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Health & Fitness

Choices

Do we have any idea how many choices we make in a given day?

Have you ever thought about how many choices you make in a single day? I suppose if I carried a little counter around with me and "tapped" it every time i made a choice or decision, I would be shocked. I feel like I make a ton a day, but I am willing to bet it’s even more than i think.

“What should I make for dinner?” “What should I wear today?” “Mom, what can I put in my lunch?” “Should I buy or pack?” “Are we going to visit your mom tonight?” “Do I have enough gas to get to work or should I stop now, knowing I’ll probably be late?” “Do I call my mom now or after I finish filling out this form?” “American or cheddar?” “ranch or oil and vinegar?” “pb&j or pb & banana?” “contacts or glasses?” “long sleeves or short?” “Tylenol or Advil?”

Those are just the ones I thought of quickly. Choices. Sometimes we have to make big choices. Last night, I had to choose between going to see Louisa, my 9-year-old, in the end of the year chorus concert or attending the very first session of the Alpha course. Both were very important to me. Louisa, obviously, will come first about 97 percent of the time. This time, though, she did not. The Alpha course is a requirement for my fiance, Mike, and I to marry. I suppose I could have sent him along solo. Would your husband/significant other go to a church meeting without you? Yeah, mine either. So I talked to Louisa and she was very understanding.

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As we were getting ready to drop off Louisa for the concert and then go on to Alpha, I had to make another choice. The sitter called. He had completely forgotten about babysitting and was going to be late. What do I do? Do I leave Soph, my 12-year-old, and Mia, my autistic 11-year-old, home alone until he can get there? Or do I drag them along to church, disrupting their evening completely? I left them home. He got there about 20 minutes later. No blood, no foul, right?

Soph is making a choice this fall. She has played basketball since she was in the first grade. A few weeks ago, she participated in two weeks of inter-mural track. She really liked it, so she signed up to do cross country. Guess what? Yup… the two sports run simultaneously.  So Sophia has to choose. The CC coach is actually making the choice very easy for her by offering for soph to hopefully do CC on the weekends, leaving the weekdays open for basketball. That is a very nice compromise.

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Some choices have no compromise. Soph has been considering going out for football. She wanted to last year, and I said no. I have my own personal reasons that I am not opening up for debate, but when she was 11 and said she wanted to play junior high football, I said no. This year, I told her I would consider it. I thought since it had been a year and she was still asking, I'd at least consider it. But Soph would have to choose between football and basketball. There is no room for compromise there. Not in eighth grade. Once she hits the high school, basketball is a winter sport. But in the junior high, it is a fall sport. No compromise. Soph has chosen basketball.

Other choices are simply cosmetic or subjective. How did you choose which cell phone to get? I bet you have your list of ‘features’ that you want, and that is what helped you decide. What about your car? What made you choose that one over something else? For me, it was easy. My car was a gift.  No choice even necessary!

So many choices. Maybe I’ll grab my knitting counter one day and stick it in my pocket. Every time I make a choice or decision I will click it. It would be interesting to see JUST HOW MANY times it happens.  Eh… I really can’t decide if i want to do that. Not yet.

That brings me to one more point. Sometimes we make a choice/decision by making no choice/decision. It can often be the easiest way to go. “Coke or Pepsi? No thanks, I’m fine.” “Would you like to renew your magazine? Not sure… I’ll let you know.”  “Who should we have as our next president? I don’t think I’ll vote this year.” Yeah… not choosing is sometimes a dangerous choice.

Thoughts?

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