Impact Of a Decision
Decision making is part of our daily lives. Have you ever sat down and thought about how many decisions you make in a day? There are too many to count really. The decisions start the moment you wake up. A lot of the time, they are simple ones, to which we are quick to make up our minds. Like, should I hit the snooze button? But the bigger ones-those are what have me thinking right now. If someone would have got through to me when I was younger by really opening my eyes to the impact the decisions I was making, good or bad, would follow me the rest of my life, I would have looked at them like they were crazy. I thought I knew it all; I wasn't looking that far into the future, I was caught up in the now. I was focused on how my decisions would affect my life at that moment not twenty years down the road.
If I could, I would go back to my younger self and share the wisdom and life experiences I now have.
I would want to try to help myself to view life and the decisions I make a little differently. I wouldn't necessarily want to try to help myself avoid the bad ones I made; because it was those decisions that played a part in molding and shaping me into who I am today. I would just want to open my eyes a little wider. I would want to help myself to see the bigger picture. Obviously, that journey is impossible. I do however, have the ability to speak life into my children. I can share what I have learned in my lifetime to better prepare them for their future. I can help them to see how their choices now will impact their lives and the lives of others later on; like their grades and how hard they work. I can play a part in opening their eyes to view life in a different way; a way I wished I would have all those years back. Now I know that they ultimately will have the complete decision making power in their lives at some point. But why wouldn't I want to plant a seed now that hopefully will help later on down the road? I want the absolute best possible life for my children now and once they leave home to start their own.
With the Holiday Season upon us, I've been thinking a lot about my children's family dynamics. This time of year is always difficult for me because depending on the rotation, it either means I won't have the boys on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This year, it was Thanksgiving. They come from a broken home. Their reality is that they have two sets of parents, two homes, two totally different set of rules; in a sense, they are living two different lives depending on what house they are at. And all of this happened because of one decision. A decision to leave and divorce. Now, in the moments he made that decision to leave, I'm sure he wasn't thinking about how it would impact everyone, including himself, years down the road. But that one decision impacts everyone involved daily; especially, during the Holidays and special occasions.
So today, because of a decision that impacted my life and the lives of my children, I find myself looking at every decision I have to make differently than before-especially the hard ones. I have learned to take a little more time to make up my mind and try to look at it from every possible angle. I wait until I can think clearly without allowing my feelings to be part of the decision making process. Sometimes, doing that is really difficult for me though. It is human to react to things that may have hurt us in the past or in an unfair situation. And in those times where I allow my feelings to take over a situation, I am especially thankful for my husband, Adam. He is the one who helps me to look at the bigger picture-to focus on a solution that best suites everyone involved instead of focusing on my feelings. Sometimes, that process can take days before I am able to see things without allowing my feelings to cloud my judgement; but I always get there. Going against the urge to react out of hurt or anger is all worth it in the end. I see things differently now than when I was younger and even six years ago and I'm incredibly thankful for that. I pay substantially more attention to how my decisions today will impact not only me, but everyone else's tomorrow.
Do you take your time with the hard decisions? Do you make up your mind based on your feelings? If so, I challenge you to really slow down and think about how your decisions will impact not only you, but someone else's tomorrow.
If I could, I would go back to my younger self and share the wisdom and life experiences I now have.
With the Holiday Season upon us, I've been thinking a lot about my children's family dynamics. This time of year is always difficult for me because depending on the rotation, it either means I won't have the boys on Thanksgiving or Christmas. This year, it was Thanksgiving. They come from a broken home. Their reality is that they have two sets of parents, two homes, two totally different set of rules; in a sense, they are living two different lives depending on what house they are at. And all of this happened because of one decision. A decision to leave and divorce. Now, in the moments he made that decision to leave, I'm sure he wasn't thinking about how it would impact everyone, including himself, years down the road. But that one decision impacts everyone involved daily; especially, during the Holidays and special occasions.
So today, because of a decision that impacted my life and the lives of my children, I find myself looking at every decision I have to make differently than before-especially the hard ones. I have learned to take a little more time to make up my mind and try to look at it from every possible angle. I wait until I can think clearly without allowing my feelings to be part of the decision making process. Sometimes, doing that is really difficult for me though. It is human to react to things that may have hurt us in the past or in an unfair situation. And in those times where I allow my feelings to take over a situation, I am especially thankful for my husband, Adam. He is the one who helps me to look at the bigger picture-to focus on a solution that best suites everyone involved instead of focusing on my feelings. Sometimes, that process can take days before I am able to see things without allowing my feelings to cloud my judgement; but I always get there. Going against the urge to react out of hurt or anger is all worth it in the end. I see things differently now than when I was younger and even six years ago and I'm incredibly thankful for that. I pay substantially more attention to how my decisions today will impact not only me, but everyone else's tomorrow.
Do you take your time with the hard decisions? Do you make up your mind based on your feelings? If so, I challenge you to really slow down and think about how your decisions will impact not only you, but someone else's tomorrow.