When was the last time you took out a paper photo album and looked at the photos marking points in time in your life? This is different that opening up the online photo album where you can select to do a “show” and it moves along without the pause that a paper album can produce. Look at a photo of yourself on the last day of what is the transition from “living at home” as a minor and opening the “brand new door” as an adult and moving into “your life”.
Look at that photo there frozen in time. What lay ahead of you on that day?
On that day, I am pretty sure you felt one of two ways: “WOW…I’m finally out of here and F-R-E-E!!!!!” “I will do what I want when I want with who I want, no chains on me any more.” OR: you felt: “…..wow….I’m finally on my own…what in the world do I do next, who do I ask now, suddenly, I feel unsure and unprepared in life…..” Both reactions are perfectly normal and both are true. We each have been at this moment in time and wondered…what will my future bring?
As you look at your photo, there is no way you might have known what decisions awaited you out there in the future. As you look back you might ask: “…boy if you had only known…….?”
Well now you are older and wiser and what do you know now about making life decisions?
Life decisions impact those in our family. Life decisions impact our future and the future of all those we come in contact with. Life decisions set a course or road in life that we travel. I am always struck by those who opt for divorce and think that children are resilient and they will bounce back and be OKAY. I can see both sides of the coin on this one, but the emotional toll is another issue. What about “end of life decisions”? Here’s another very tough “Life Decision” that we each will someday have to make and we may have had to make or will have to make in the future with one or both of our own parents.
How do you make your own life decisions? I’d like to hear your process. How do you go about doing it?
I will have tips on how to make life decisions in a later post, for now, we are exploring what each of these questions are around decisions making.
