It was one of those last minute decisions, heading down to the lake this morning to catch the sunrise.
It wasn’t something planned. In fact I went to bed last night with one focus for today. There were a number of must-do’s and once they were done I intended to get back onto the book.
I don’t know if it was the chill in the air that made me move a little bit faster. But I found myself having fed and freed all the babies early enough that I looked at the time and realized that I could possibly make it in time for twilight if I put my ass in gear and left the house immediately.
Yes, there were a couple of last minute challenges to getting out immediately. For example, the injured TC arrived and I stopped and gave him breakfast. And I had to forego taking the time to make myself a coffee. But it all worked and I got out just in time.
I raced down the road to the lake. I had about fifteen minutes to get there and the lights obliged. I may have broken a speed limit or two but I was a man on a mission.
I jumped out of the car and immediately started taking pics. There wasn’t a moment to spare. But I got what I needed and have some at the end of this blog if you care to check them out.
Hope you enjoy!
It was on the way down there that the thought for today’s blog occurred to me. I thought about what it was that drove this decision of mine and how in general I end up making decisions.
I think one of my strengths is my ability to analyze a situation and make a quick decision. Generally people don’t have to wait for me to make one. Yes, sometimes I get it wrong but that’s ok … I live with that risk.
But many of life’s decisions don’t actually require much of an analysis. They get made in an instant without much aforethought. Things like what sweater will I wear today, will I wear my hair up or down (that’s an easy one for me), which cereal will I have for breakfast?
Other decisions require a little more thought often involving the very same subject but just in different context. Things like should I buy this sweater, do I need to get my hair cut, what cereal will I buy at the store?
You can see, they are all essentially the same thing but the circumstance has changed and now there is a small element of planning involved. With the sweater it might come down to the price or how would it look on me, the hair decision might be related to am I going somewhere where people will see me, and the cereal choice might be based on which ones are available and do I think I won’t grow bored eating these over an extended period of time?
Then there are decisions that are put on us by someone asking something directly of us. From simple stuff like, would you like cream or sugar with that to more complex stuff like how does this dress look on me hon?
I mean some of these are really simple and you can answer quite spontaneously on the cream and sugar based on a snap view of what appeals to you. But answer wrongly on the dress one and you could be in the doghouse for a week.
And then there are real decisions; decisions that are life altering or life changing. These are decisions that can affect our life and the lives of those around us. Things like going to college or not, moving homes, having children, career choices, etc.
A wrong decision on any of those can have a profound effect on the rest of our lives and these are the decisions that we really need to understand our decision process on. Fools and children make decisions for silly reasons. The rest of us have a responsibility to get our decision right or at the very least to understand why we made the wrong decision if that is how it ended.
Learning from wrong decisions can only happen if we understand what drove us to that decision in the first place.
And if our drivers were good or well intended, then even if the decision turned out wrong, then so be it. We win some and lose some.
But if we were driven to a decision based on poor intentions, or being badly informed, then we need to reevaluate ourselves so that we don’t do the same thing next time.
Only we know our real intentions. So there is no objectivity in assessing whether intentions were good or bad.
But if the wrong decision was based on being poorly informed, then we need to take real steps to correct ourselves to make sure that our next decision is based on being well-informed.
Being informed is a responsibility that each of us has and one that should not be put onto others. When we look to others to take that responsibility for us, then we are in effect putting on them the right to make our decisions for us, also.
It’s why the morons vote red.
I am not saying all those who vote red are morons. On the contrary, there are many red voters who are intelligent, articulate, and well-informed. They decide on red because they are selfish, racist, misogynist, assholes and their decisions are therefore made in their own interest.
But there are red voters that vote against their own interests even though they are decent folk. They allow others to tell them that blue will take their guns away, kill their babies, and turn their children gay. There are a lot of decent folk out there who are morons.
At the end of the day we should all make decisions for our own reasons. Don’t be a moron.
… just a thought!
