Picking This Or That

Act 47:

“It’s never too late… To Make A Choice

Don’t spend your life weight things up. Golfers call it paralysis by analysis. Draw on your experience. Trust your judgment. Learn to read your gut reactions. You’ll make mistakes, don’t fear them. You’ll get many more right than wrong. Allow yourself to be wrong sometimes. Learn from those mistakes. Mistakes are often the best part of life” – Patrick Lindsay

Quote in book: “The die is cast.” ~ Julius Ceasar

Ahhh decisions… decisions…. I can be very indecisive, which may be surprising to people who don’t know me very well. That is because once I make a decision, I stick to it and I’ve very strong in my convictions. But the journey to get to that decision is a very long and winding road. Going back to the Myers-Briggs results, I’m an “S” and a super “F”. The “S” is for sensing, vs intuition. I’m very analytical and am super detail oriented, which means I look at all the possibilities and consequences associated with every decision I make. The only reason I bring the “F” into is because I take not only my feelings into the equation, but how it affects those around me. This makes the decision for me even harder, because as an “F” I want harmony and peace, which sometimes is in direct conflict w/ the most logical path.

Here’s an example of exactly how complicated I make things… let’s take my TV… for someone who watches as much TV as I do, you’d think I’d have a pretty sweet set up. Um no. I still have the same 27” CRT, I bought more than ten years ago. (yes, I know it’s pathetic…) So, why have I not joined the 21^st century?? I can’t freaking decide which TV I want. Do I want plasma? LCD? LED? How big? How much should I spend? My TV works now, do I really need a new one? Then there’s the whole…when/if I buy a new TV, should I get a better sound system? What about the DVD player and TiVO? Don’t they need to be upgraded too? Ok, so now it becomes a bigger question of how much do I spend? If we go by the last time I bought a TV… I’ve had the thing for a LONG time… I will have this new TV for a LONG time (provided it doesn’t die on me). I have to be happy w/ my purchase, right? So, then I have to do more research. This leads to more questions. Then there’s the question of should I mount it or not? If so, I’ll have to rearrange all my art in my living room. (which leads to.. maybe it’ll force me to rearrange and maybe redo all the other rooms) I know a couple of people that have two TVs in their living room, maybe I should get two? As you can see, there’s a lot to think about.

Other items that fall into this category are:

• Remolding my master bathroom.
  
• Buying an electric piano.
  
• Buying a new phone (iphone vs blackberry.)
  
• Tablet (sony vs. iPad vs Blackberry)
• OMG – deciding Nook vs Kindle vs. Sony reader (that took forever) – I landed on the Nook and I’m very very happy!
  

Just as a side note: I’m very anti-Apple, so I really don’t have any of their products except iTunes (but only cause I couldn’t get some of the GLEE songs any other way) – this factors a lot on my decisions

Then there are the everyday decisions that take me forever!!!

What to cook/eat for dinner. Sometimes I eat very late, because I just can’t decide and then I wait until I’m starving and am forced to make the decision. It usually helps me when I’m eating w/ someone, cause then I can just be like.. well what do you want to eat and force them to make a decision.

What to wear (omg I change like 3 times before I leave in the morning (unless I decide while in the shower)… I have PILE of clean clothes on my bed that I’ve thrown on there because they are now off the hanger and I’m too lazy (or too late) to return them to their original places. As a result, I always pack like double what I need for a trip, because I like to have options, even when I’m on travel…

So, how do I remedy my indecisiveness? I don’t think I’ll ever really really stop completely, but I do just need to go w/ my gut more. I need to trust myself that I’ll make the right decision. And know, that when I do make a decision, I rarely second guess myself. But maybe I don’t second guess myself, because I know I weigh/analyze all the consequences. Will I now start to doubt myself? (OMG.. I’m doing it.) I’m starting to babble. So, I’m gonna go w/ my gut and end this blog now… trust yourself. Trust your instincts. You’ll make the right decision or at least the right decision for you at that moment… things do change. You can always reassess. It’s ok to be wrong. Very rarely are things irrevocable.