I have been reminded recently of the truth that our decisions take us some place. The vast majority of the time we do not arrive some place by accident. Two books which I have been reading have been driving home this point. This is something we need to be reminded about and we also need to teach our children the importance of the consequences of decisions -- that their decisions are taking them some place.
Statistics tell us that the average person makes 300 choices / decisions every day. About 10% of those choices of potential life altering outcomes. Most of us can summarize our lives around 5 or 6 defining decisions. These decisions radically changed the direction and trajectory of our lives. (Exercise: what are your most defining decisions? Good dinner table discussion).
Bob Merritt states that one decision can produce a lifetime of benefit or years of regret ("7 Simple Choices for a Better Tomorrow," p. 194). So we need to know our vulnerabilities so that we never put ourselves in a position where something bad could happen - stores, websites, images, people or places, spending, eating, former boyfriends or girlfriends, etc. Sometimes we watch individuals make a decision and we ask, "what were they thinking?" or we ask that of ourselves. We need to understand that the emotional decisions can be irrational. If we really thought through the consequences, we wouldn't make that choice.
In his book, "Spiritual Leadership", Henry Blackaby gives some concluding thoughts when it comes to decisions:
* God doesn't want people to do what they think is best: he wants them to do what he knows is best.
* Every decision is a step toward a destination. So where are you headed? Where do you want to go? What steps are you taking or going to take to get you there?
* Unfortunately, it is usually the opportunities and rarely the difficulties that vanish over time.
