Each of us has the individual right to choose, and since rights come with responsibilities, so too we all have the responsibility to make good choices.
Whether it is the choice to get married or not to get married, the choice to go to school or not to go to school, the choice to get deeper into a relationship or not to get deeper, the choice to be violent or not to be violent, the choice to support a person’s view or not to support their view, whether to eat healthy or not to eat healthy. We are all forced to make choices once we are able to breathe.
Some choices are easier to make than others when we can see the likely results of them. So, a young man who is faced with the choice of walking away or returning a blow at someone who has wronged him, can think of the possible outcome of both choices and decide on the better one. He may consider that a blow can lead to death resulting in his imprisonment and a life of guilt and pain.
He may consider that walking away can result in humiliation and can be a positive message to his friends. Looking at the two choices it is clear that he is better off walking away.
Sometimes it is not that easy when making a choice. You may be in a job where you are paid a comfortable sum monthly and you were able to gain a permanent position. However, you think you are treated unfairly since you are not given the promotion you deserve. Someone who you know well and trust refers you to a great opportunity - a job as a manager in charge of a new and exciting company with a salary twice the amount that you are earning. The benefits are attractive and you get to travel regularly to other countries.
That sounds great. Why not jump at it? This is when it gets tough to make a decision. You will consider that if you allow this opportunity to pass you may be losing out on a chance to be successful and to live the kind of life you have always dreamt of.
Another consideration will be what if you leave your job for one that is more attractive and then the company closes down in the first few months? You are left unemployed, unsure of where next to turn to for a job. You are on the poverty line, a place you never saw yourself when you had your previous job.
How can we avoid bad choices? Try the following and you will find that you can be making better choices in your life and achieving greater success:
• Pray and pray and pray before making a difficult choice. Ask God for vision and wisdom to help you to make a good choice. The bible tells us that prayers move mountain; therefore, prayers can no doubt help you to make better choices.
• Find a successful person you can trust and who can guide you based on their own experiences. Even if you trust that person, still analyse carefully the advice they give.
• Talk to your inner self and listen carefully to what the inner you are saying. One of the reasons we end up making bad choices is the fact that we do not heed the advice given by our inner self. We have to learn to sit and discuss and analyse the issues affecting us and depend on our inner self to draw on knowledge and experiences and to come up with answers to the problems of life.
• Draw on past experience. If we look around us there are many who made bad choices and we see the consequences they now face. Why not learn from that and avoid repeating those actions? It is said that life is our greatest teacher and so we can save ourselves the cost of making a bad choice by learning free the most difficult lessons of life, just by looking at the price some persons paid for making bad choices.
• Weight the pro and con of your various options and decide which is heavier in terms of consequences and the pain and discomfort you will face.
• Never make a choice just because it seems popular to do so. It is very normal for the majority to be wrong.
• Never make choice based on what sound or look good. Looks can be deceiving and words can be lies intending to mislead you.
Since the price can be very high for bad choices we make, my advice is: Think twice before making a choice. Take time to decide on the choice you are going to make. Remember, the choices you make today can determine you tomorrow.
WHY is it important to talk about choices? We cannot escape choices. We are faced with choices daily and if we are not careful, we can end up making bad choices that can affect us negatively and make our lives miserable forever.
By Emmalin Pierre
