Crossroads

Every day we make decisions about what’s happening in our lives. Most of these are routine and get made on auto-pilot. We are creatures of habit after all. More thought is needed however for issues affecting our lives. So how do we make our decisions? My engineering training brought a strong analytical focus to my deliberations. Over time however it may have distorted my perspective and relegated emotional considerations to a much lower importance. It didn’t occur to me, during my marketing training, that the analytical and emotional are inseparable. Perhaps because I was marketing within an engineering firm the emphasis was still on the analytical whereas the consumer sector, as witnessed in our shopping malls, emphasises the emotional. It’s undeniable however that the really important decisions in life are made with the heart rather than the head – How we choose our life partners, where we choose to live, the names we give our children right down to how we express ourselves through dress, music and art. The crossroads in our lives tend not to have simple signposts marked ‘Pleasure or Pain’. More likely they could be read ‘Good, Better or Best’. What tools then are the most useful for helping us to choose which direction to take? Time Today I give myself time for decisions to emerge. If the matter under consideration is important then I aim to be unhurried so that the correct answer has time to grow. Guiding Purpose Here I want to be guided by principle toward making choices that support my higher purpose. So far as possible I want to make ‘Best’ decisions, - decisions that give rise to no dissonance within. I want that every decision is resonant with who I am so that others can see integrity in action. Joy I want to feel joyful in my choices. I allow my passions to play out so that I become fully immersed in my work and release full self-expression. Confidence When decisions are being made from a place of congruence with purpose and with passion then there need be no fear in the decision. It is not necessary that everything is predictable or in place. It is enough that I move consistently toward my goal and trust in Divine assistance. As I look back over these factors I’m struck by the fact that they are exclusively emotional and that analysis is subsumed within them. It is never the sole arbiter so although it is essential to ensure that we do not behave irresponsibly and live within our means, analysis need not impact on happiness. Act with purpose, integrity, joy and trust and remember that fortune favours the bold.