Making Choices

Good Choices

“Some of the trickiness of choice-making arises with options that may be pleasing in the short-term, but may incrementally steer us off course over the longer term.”

Tim Carey, Ph.D. (Making Good Choices; Psychology Today Website, Aug. 15, 2015)

Most of us are trying hard to make good decisions, especially when it comes to diet and exercise. Because we travel by car now, and most of us work sitting down, we have to consider these things as we never have before. Also, many of us have few options when it comes to fresh food and safe places to exercise, so we may decide that good choices are not possible. On the other hand, some of us go to extremes that end up boomeranging and doing more harm than good. An acquaintance told me she was on a diet in which you drink nothing but water for twenty-six days—no food, except for a protein drink three times a day. Now, there's a diet that is destined to fail—at least it would in my case.

Dr. Carey, in the article noted above, suggests that we pause before making choices at least long enough to review our underlying goals. For instance, if our goal is to successfully lose weight, we might want to consider eating less and increasing our activity—two proven ways of achieving that goal. So, when we are offered a delicious-looking slice of chocolate cake, we stop and consider the options for eating it. Two that come to mind are 1. go ahead and eat it and then fast the next day to off-set the calories, or 2. cut off a small piece to eat so that you don't feel deprived, but still do not take in the total load of calories. The third, of course, is to politely thank the giver and decline the offer. Making good, reasonable choices requires that we stop and think before we act.

The same is true for acquiring a spiritual practice that fits your lifestyle. If it does not suit you, you are unlikely to continue for very long. Many of us decide that the way to the holy grail must be to sit in meditation everyday since that has history behind it. That works for some and not for others. Some of us try many other people's paths, and just end up lost in the woods. The goal of spiritual practice is finding the way that best facilitates your connection with that which is sacred to you. Your way may not be anyone else's way. But, finding it is half the distance to the goal. The other half is sticking with it.

Making good choices is helped by having good outcomes. The more successful we are, the more motivated we will be to continue. When your goal is to live from your soul, the path matters, and it is yours alone to choose.

                                                            In the Spirit,

                                                               Jane