The power of deciding.

We all do it every day, its something that comes naturally. So natural in fact, that sometimes we don’t even realize the importance of doing it and we do it carelessly, without thinking about it, as if it was something automatic and without consequence. What am I talking about? Making decisions.

Of course there are some decisions we do take the time to think of and reflect before doing, we might even ask for advice or pray that someone else decides for us; but this type of life changing decisions are the least we have to make.

However there is another type of decisions, the daily ones that we make without care, thinking that since they are about daily stuff they will not affect our life; and that’s the mistake.

See, each and every decision we make, be it a life altering one or a daily one, will impact our life in one way or another. And thing about decisions is that, it doesn’t matter whether it was the right or wrong one; we all have to live with the consequences of it.

Here’s an example of what I’m talking about: a few days ago I was hospitalized for almost a full week due to a couple of blood clots that formed in my right leg. Today, at home, stable, healthy and still recovering I’ve done a recount of all the decisions, right ones and wrong ones, that took me all the way to today:

Wrong decision number 1:  Being careless about my weight and allowing me to gain so much overweight that it turned out to be the main factor to put me in this situation.

Right decision number 1: Quit smoking 8 years ago and not drinking alcohol and sodas, which helped to not complicate the thrombosis. My veins and organs are quite healthy!

Wrong decision number 2: Not having done the same with deserts and candy and thinking that every meal, no matter if it was breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack, they all had to come with desert. That’s how I gained all the extra pounds!

Right decision number 2: Started dieting a few months ago and having lost 18 pounds already. There’s still a lot of ground to cover, but I don’t want to think how things could have gone had I still had those 18 pounds.

Right decision number 3: Started practicing TaiChi a month and a half ago and started exercising again.

Wrong decision number 3: Not having taken the pain in my leg seriously enough on the first day, thinking that it was just a sore muscle from TaiChi class; and having flown Mexico-Miami-Mexico within a 48 hours period. The Blood clots formed during that time!

Right decision number 4: chose to go straight to the hospital to check on my leg instead of going to the sports doctor I usually go to. According to the doctors in the hospital “this was the best decision I’ve made in the last few months” Had I not decided to go to the hospital right there and then, the problem could have been a whole lot worse.

Now, how exactly did I make this last decision? Call it instinct, fear, casualty, luck, previous experiences or a combination of these all, I don’t exactly know.

What I do know though, is that all of this reminded me of how important it is to be completely conscious  and aware of the decisions we make every day.
It doesn’t matter if it is a life altering decision or a day to day one, like the route we’ll take today to drive to work, every decision can have huge consequences in our life.

Fortunately we can also decide how to take the results from our decisions: negatively or positively, with anger and sadness or with a smile and good will; plus we can also decide to change the way things are, change our mind, correct our way, take new decisive actions and keep on going. And the best of all is that we can decide for ourselves!

So next time you have to make a decision, no matter how simple it is, don’t forget to:

1- Be fully aware of your context and weight in the consequences of the decisions. The more aware we are the better decision we make. I sure will!.

2-  Do not let anyone decide for you. It maybe that your decisions will affect others, but in the end the only one who will have to live 24/5 with your decisions or lack of it, will be you. So be responsible and make your own choice. I sure will too!

3- Don’t be afraid to decide. Remember you can always changeyour mind, although that will be your decision too.