Decisions
An editor friend of mine recently invited me to do another writing assignment for him. Although he’s offered me a couple of months to write it, he really wants it yesterday. As an aside, don’t you think this editor friend ought to offer me large amounts of money to produce my quality work in such a short amount of time? Actually, the assignment pays very little and is not the issue for me. However, I have been weighing the pros and cons of this opportunity all day. It will require time away from my wife and children. While they are having fun, I’ll be staring at a blank computer screen wondering why I took this assignment. On the other hand, writing offers me an outlet to express myself in ways I hope are helpful to others. It gives me a sense of satisfaction, something we all need.
Decisions, for the most part, are the product of our hopes and fears. In the end, the cons (our fears) may be far greater or smaller than we could foresee. A couple of years ago I found myself in a job that caused me a great deal of grief and frustration, but I could not bring myself to make a change because of the fears I had. Eventually, the organization made that decision for me, and I’ve discovered many of the fears were unfounded. Similarly, the pros (our hopes) may surprise us with their largeness or their smallness. I’m thinking here of an investment I made several years ago in a start-up company that looked promising at the time. I lost all my money when they folded. It is simply impossible to know the outcome of our decisions ahead of time. Sometimes our fears keep us from doing something we should have. In the same fashion, sometimes our hopes cause us to leap when we should tread softly.
I have no profound insights in this entry about how to make better decisions. I make many mistakes by listening to the wrong voice in the conversations between my hopes and fears. We all do. I’m trying to listen more carefully, in a more balanced fashion with the help of God. Then, once I’ve made the decision, I know I’ve done the best I can. It does no good to look back and wonder “what if” or second guess.
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