Tag Archives: decisions

Tsunami Evacuation Route

July 19, 2015 cinser Leave a comment

Photo taken in Alaska by Tawnya McDonald

We often wonder how people live peacefully in an area with a high likelihood of natural disasters. Yet we all face the possibility of disasters every day. Some of us admit the potential of catastrophic life occurrences, some ignore them, and others fixate on them. We may choose to live in what we believe is a safe environment, one usually devoid of floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, or hurricanes, but the potential always exists for something to go wrong, for things to not be the way we wish they were. We are not in charge of the elements of our lives be they geological or personal. What we can choose is how we live each moment until things explode, implode, or not. Will we hunker in anticipatory fright? Will we stockpile self-selected or fanatically-recommended provisions? Rail against the unfairness of life? Fear what has not yet transpired? Mourn what we still possess? Or, will we choose to savor and celebrate our current steps in the dance of life?

Border Crossing

January 26, 2015 cinser Leave a comment

Many of us are skilled at drawing borders to keep others in line. We warn them not to cross into forbidden territory. We convince ourselves that those who don’t respect our boundaries, don’t respect us either. We become nervous when they begin to approach our carefully drawn borders. We become enraged when they dare to cross them. Our borders are constructed of don’ts. Don’t ignore me. Don’t make fun of what I think. Don’t treat me as less important than you. Don’t look at me with that judgmental glint in your eye. Don’t. Don’t. Don’t.

Perhaps we should stop drawing lines we fear others might cross and instead determine boundaries to keep ourselves out of the territories we’d rather not inhabit. See this border I’ve drawn for myself? It goes everywhere with me. Inside my border is truth and authenticity. Inside is the choice to acknowledge fear and the refusal to let it rule my world. You can come and visit me anytime. I won’t fight to keep you out. I won’t argue about where you should be. I’ll simply continue to live and examine my life, and perfect the shape of my world as my inner sight improves.

Buy Two Get One Free

August 24, 2014 cinser Leave a comment

Imagine you need or want to buy something. It doesn’t really matter what it is. It could be anything. When you go to purchase it you discover there is a buy-two-get-one-free sale. Maybe you can easily afford to purchase two instead of one. Maybe you are going to need a second one of whatever this thing you are purchasing is sooner than later. But maybe not. Maybe you only need one. Or maybe you really don’t have the money to buy a second one right now. Maybe you think you’ll probably never use that third free one anyway. But it’s free. It doesn’t cost you anything. Wait, that’s not entirely accurate. First of all, you had to pay out twice as much money as you originally intended to spend. Yes, yes, I know, you are getting the second item for this unexpected outlay of money. It isn’t as if you’re actually paying any extra for the third item. The third item IS free. Again, not entirely accurate. Your choice to take advantage of this sale changed the amount of available cash you will have on hand. This might not be that big of deal to you. But here’s the thing, buying two to get one free when you only intended to get one is only a good thing if you really want three.

Don’t change your behavior because something seems to be free or seems to be something you should do based on what the prevailing view of a particular situation might be. Most people would tell you to go for the free item. But maybe, you should let your own wants, desires, and value system prevail no matter what offer is on the table. You get to make your own decisions. Don’t give your right to decide away. Not even to that little annoying voice in your head.