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Choices
by LaVonne Boruk
It has been said the only certainties in life are death and taxes. I have to dispute that assumption, for we all must make choices. Each of us makes many choices every day of our lives. We can choose whether to get out of bed in the morning, or sleep all day. Probably not a good choice, but nobody is perfect. From the time we are born we choose whether to laugh or smile, or cry. We choose when we will read a book, or whether we will read the newspaper. The clothes we will wear to the office, the food we will eat for dinner and where we will eat tonight, even who pays the tab is a consideration.
Some persons seem not to be able to make the slightest decision for themselves. For example, I remember reading a question sent to a popular newspaper columnist asking which side of the bed sheet should face the top. What a profound choice that is to make. As you might expect the answer was, 'whichever side you prefer.' So the choice was tossed right back into the questioner's lap, where it should have been all the time. Who can decide for whom how to make their personal bed? Who has the right to say 'it must be done this way?'
A six year old has trouble deciding whether to spend his allowance on a toy or on a sack full of cookies. Is it because perhaps he wants both? Or maybe she just doesn't want to let the money go? Someone must make that choice sooner or later. If we let the child make the choice all by himself he learns a valuable lesson, one that will stay with him all his life. He learns either that he made a good choice or he made a poor choice. He also learned whether he likes living with the choice he made, and perhaps he thinks about what might have been a better choice.
Maybe she decides that the item she purchased wasn't such a good choice after all and promises herself that next week she will be more discriminating with her allowance. Maybe she will decide to save some of her allowance, let it accumulate until she can afford a nice something or other. More valuable lessons are learned; for example, perhaps that some things are worth waiting for.
Perhaps she has so many pretty little dresses in her closet that she can't decide which one to wear to school. But she knows that she has to choose quickly or else she may miss the school bus. In making this choice she learns to be on time for appointments. She knows she will be in trouble if she is late for school. So she must decide not to tarry while making the selection. Or maybe she will decide to choose the night before so she doesn't have to worry about it in the morning rush. Thus she learns to choose to look ahead and plan.
Maybe he decides to dress the same as the other boys at school. You may think that is just following the leader, and I suppose it is. But it is still a conscious choice. He chooses to follow the leader. Maybe some day he will decide to lead instead of follow. It takes a lot of self-confidence to become a leader; to say, "No, I don't like this; I know a better way, and I am going to do my best to bring about a change for the better." And then to follow through on that promise takes a decision to garner a bundle of courage and draw up a good plan. All of which requires the ability to make good choices and the will to do so.
We don't always have the ability to choose how and when or where we will die. If we did, I'm sure most of us would choose to live forever, or at least as long as we enjoyed good health. Still, we make choices all along the way that have a direct bearing on our lives and how long we will live. Some of us choose to succumb to bad habits such as smoking, eating the wrong kinds of food, drinking, and not getting sufficient rest and sleep for optimum care of our personal temples. Yes, our bodies are our temples. We wouldn't dream of not having a well made roof over our heads, but we choose to neglect and abuse our bodies.
And then there is the little matter of paying taxes. No choices there you say? Wrong. We choose when we will pay our taxes, whether early or late. We choose whether we will be honest about submitting all our income, whether we will pad our expense account, whether we will count our pets as dependents, whether we will obey the law at all or not. Of course, if we make the wrong choices we are likely to be caught and made to 'fess up and pay up, penalties and interest to boot. Nevertheless, only we can make those choices. May all your choices be good ones.
©1999 LaVonne Boruk
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