CHOICE

Choice has the power to desire, pleasure, satisfaction and action. Deep within everything we do as humans is this powerful resource that has the ability to change the trajectory of our lives for good or for bad. To choose or not to choose is imbedded in a choice. In fact the decision not to make a choice is itself a choice.

Since choice is very important and is part of life in general, consciousness of being aware of its reality is not to be taken for granted. I must be engaged with my desire in order to make a choice that would produce the pleasure or satisfaction that will augment my life so I do not grope in the dark. Every act that had been or will be is directly proportional to choice. To say it simple, actions are products of choices. It calls our attention therefore to make our choices top priority in life.

To sleep or not to sleep is a choice, to laugh or cry, fight or love, work hard or lazy about all come from the power to make good or bad choices. The problem though is not the choice in itself but the amount of good or bad it brings to us. The amount of gains or losses that come with our choices play significant role in deciding the path of our lives.

Crossroads keep us in check to ponder a bit before making decisions because if we don’t make quality decisions we may become addicted to the decisions and the decisions running our lives.

The reasons why I fail in some areas of my life even when I know that the choice I am about to make will not bring me any good is key in this discussion. Why will I decide against my good? The answer is pleasure. Many things may be pleasurable for me but not for my entire good. Good in this sense centers on the totality of my life and not a single event that is detached from my overall reality.

Somebody says that “I know that smoking is bad for my health but it’s pleasurable and I enjoy it”. Even though smokers are liable to die young as the adverts on cigarettes say, people still smoke and sometimes they say they can’t help it. The amount of pleasure derived from smoking and the amount of good it brings to the persons totality in reality are two different things. While smoking is an event, or series of events that had develop into a habit, the overall reality means that the pleasure derived from smoking ends with the event but the effect of smoking affects the entire health of the person.

I have made so many bad choices that I am not proud of. What I have discovered is that I focus on the pleasure of the moment and afterwards I have regrets because the effect goes beyond the moment and affects other areas of my life. So I am making a decision to check the pleasure of the moment so that everything I do is geared toward making me a better person. Don’t get me wrong on this, I am not advocating that pleasure is in itself bad, but I am saying that I need to weigh the overall benefit of the pleasure so that I don’t enjoy now and suffer later.