Tomorrow the painters will come and I am so excited. I spent the day packing away the things that would be in their way and covering up the furniture as I get ready for the job to start.
As I packed I thought about all the events that led up to tomorrow and two things stood out for me
The first was how I make decisions. To the bystander, it may seem that I woke up one morning in an intolerant mood and said, “OK this is enough. Things are going to change around here.” I know that this is not true. I don’t make decisions like that. I mull things over in my mind, silently weighing the options and keeping the thoughts to myself. If the need for a decision is triggered by internal or external stimuli, then it is easy to make the decision since I have done the pre-work.
The people around me may wonder, “Where did that come from?” since they were not privy to my self talk.
I can also make decisions quickly, without the pre-work. In these instances I do not mull or agonize, since I firmly believe that there are no wrong decisions. What happens after the decision is made will determine whether or not the decision will work. Yes, there are times when the decision does not bear the expected outcome; this I read as a signal that it is time to make another decision.
My second thought was about having faith and forging ahead when a decision has been made, especially when I have no idea how it will be implemented or what will happen. When I had the mini melt down because the cheques that were promised were not delivered, I could have postponed the job. I did not. I stuck to the decision, kept planning with the decorators and scheduled the work. Today, one day before the work starts, a client handed me a cheque. As I said thanks I shook my head and said, “What if in my panic I changed my decision and postponed the work? How would I be feeling now?”
Today was a good day to be reminded about what I fundamentally believe. There are no bad decisions and have faith it will all work out.
How do you make decisions? How do you keep on the path when it looks like it won’t work out?
Maxine Attong 