Choice

Our lives are nothing but series of millions of tiny decisions. These decisions are made both by us, and for us by others. Sometimes we don't even have control over these choices but without them, we wouldn't be able to move forward.

Everything you do is a choice, and you have a choice in almost all aspects of your life. If you don't like what's happening you have a chance to change it, or at least change a little bit of it to make it better.

Our daily routines consist of endless choices about everything from what we wear to what we believe and how we think. Out of all these choices you make, every single one has an affect. It may affect only you, or it could affect people all around the world and into future generations.

People generally make choices in one of two ways, 'maximizers' like to review all options and make an educated decision while 'satisficers' settle with a choice more quickly. We all have methods to making decisions, but whether you are more or less thought out in your decision making process, there is still an element of thought there. This part of thinking is deliberate, you have to realize and focus on the decision you are making.

There is another part of decision making though, one that's more automatic. In this part of thinking your brain makes decisions for you that you are unaware of. We need this part because making conscious decisions all the time tires our brains out. Making decisions requires attention and you can't multitask very well while trying to make a good decision. This is when the automatic part of your brain takes over.

Making choices, consciously or not, definitely makes an impact. Even if a choice you make seems stupid and inconsequential to you, it might affect more parts of your life. The more little decisions you make, the more they can build up, and when they are all added together it's easier to see the degree of change your choices can prompt.

I like the idea that we control our lives with the choices we make, that the universe doesn't know what's going to happen next. Nothing is predetermined, and everything that happens is spontaneous because no one and nothing knows what could happen next. When you make a choice it's you changing your own life, in tiny ways at a time.

If the amount of choice we have right now can get us this far, imagine what we could do with an even wider scale of choice. Would more choice in general be good? As much as it's important to have enough choice, if we have too much, we can get overwhelmed with the possibilities. I guess there's a place somewhere in between that would be the best for everyone.