Life is just choices and their outcomes

One of the most frustrating elements of living is being faced with choices, when none of the options are likely to produce a desirable outcome.

We face such choices every day. For example, one might have to choose between working late and watching your son or daughter at a recital or ball game.

Each choice has drawbacks. Watching your daughter score the winning run is thrilling. But are you sacrificing your promotion and bonus that would have paid for that family vacation?

Some choices are fraught with perilous consequences that carry ramifications that could affect generations to come.

Of course, it's easy to lapse into mind-numbing paralysis, thinking the fate of the free world depends on your decision.

We all have experienced someone who overanalyzes nearly every decision to the point that the decision is no longer relevant or time has made the choice.

Equally disturbing are those who make decisions rashly or based on incomplete or porous information. Often they display a lack of curiosity and put their trust in others to supply information that is timely and relevant.

There are steps to take to help one make the correct decision.

I have always stressed to my sons to consider the possibilities, look past what is impossible and focus on what is possible.

Gather information. There's a difference between opinion and facts. Know the difference. Some opinions are more valuable than others.

If you have friends whose opinions you trust, seek them out. In this age of cell phones, e-mail and instant communication, distance is no excuse.

All this is well and good when dealing with the material world, but what of the spiritual side? Like it or not, those who believe in life after death far outnumber those who do not.

Yet it's surprising to me how many are willing to forgo their training in linear thinking and logic when it comes to matters of spirituality.

Both science and religion seek answers to our most fundamental questions, too. It's time to recognize that science and religion are not mutually exclusive, but imperfect methods of examining the same questions derived from the same flawed human thought process.

So we all must make a choice. Just as my friend Randy Rabold did. Randy died July ll at his home near Columbus, Ohio. He chose death rather than living, as I have, with Lou Gehrig's disease.

There is no right or wrong, no black or white. There are only choices to be made based on our imperfect knowledge.



Rich Brooks can be reached at rich.brooks @ heraldtribune.com.

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