With the approaching holiday season, we are all faced with some pretty big decisions. The most pressing one being, “Do we spend the time with our loved ones or remain in quarantine?”
“When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision.”
Paulo Coelho
I live in Southwest Florida, away from all my family, so this is a particularly difficult decision for me to make. While I miss being with them terribly, I am afraid of either bringing Covid-19 up to them, or bringing back here to my husband. Not to mention the fear of me catching it or just being exposed and needing to quarantine from work so as to not spread it further.
Many people I know here are transplants from other states and therefore, have family up north. I have had conversations with some of them and it is apparent that whether we decide to go or to stay, it is not an easy decision. The question then is, “What is a good process for making decisions, so that in the end we can be at peace with our choice?”
“A wise man makes his own decisions. An ignorant man follows public opinion.”
Chinese Proverb
Steps to Good Decision Making
- Identify your ultimate goal.
- Write a list of all possible options.
- Make a list of every possible consequence.
- Do some research so you are aware of the truth.
- Be mindful of who you are trying to please.
- Make your decision.
- Be at peace with it.
Making decisions is difficult for a lot of us because it takes some effort to be informed and weigh all your options. The tendency to second-guess ourselves is a natural feeling to have during this process. When these confusing thoughts come into your mind, weigh them against what you know in order to be sure of your decision.
If you are lucky, you may have someone else to help you make the right decision. Even if this is so, ultimately you need to make a decision that is right for you. What is right for one person is not necessarily right for another person. To be at peace, your decision needs to be yours alone.
“Every decision brings with it some good, some bad, some lessons, and some luck. The only thing that’s for sure is that indecision steals many years from many people who wind up wishing they’d just had the courage to leap.”
Doe Zantamata
We all need to make decisions in our daily lives. Some decisions are easy and others are more difficult. If you take the time to become educated at all the possible scenarios and outcomes of your decisions, you will be at peace with whatever your choose.
Organizing, Growing, and Finding Peace Together 