Choice

Everyone makes them, although there are a few souls out there that their choice is to make as few as possible, and try to ride through life without making decisions.  Although I'm not quite sure how much I believe it, I've heard said that free will is what separates us from other animals.  I don't know if I would go so far as to say other animals can't choose, as I think some can, we just have difficulty talking to and understanding them well enough.  But it did get me thinking, and raised a possibility that may seem silly, or foolish, or even downright crazy.

A conversation from a movie I like goes had this in it:
"The kingdom of God is not a democracy. The Lord never seeks reelection. There's no discussion, no deliberation, no referanda as to which road to take. There's one right, one wrong. One absolute ruler."
"A dictator, you mean?"
"Aye, but a benign, loving dictator."
"So much for your freedom of choice."
"You've still got a choice, nobody's forcing you to follow him."

The thought I had was that in most religions God is described as omnipotent, but I had the thought that it is possible that God can see everything, every choice in our lives, and what will happen on either side of that choice.  He cannot see which one we will choose though.  There are a number of stories in the Bible which would make less sense if God already knew which way people would go, if every step we take, and decision we make are predetermined.  There are sometimes the few rare occasions where we feel that external, divine influence on a decision, and this may be as close as you come to having a decision made for you by God.

This means that among other things, life comes down to the choices you make (or lack thereof).  Some choices are harder, and will hurt, they will cause you to lose things, be they material, friendships, or sometimes even a part of who you thought you were.  But, the only way to progress in this life, to survive, to truly reach where you should, and be who and what you should is to choose.  Part of living is also making the wrong choice, and it is better to make a tough decision and later find out that you should have chosen different than to be unable to choose.

So, what is holding you back, whether the choice before you is career, school, religion, family life, or something else; why do you hesitate?  Choose, and live, as one choice we do not control, is how much time we are allowed on the planet- we can make choices to live as long as possible, or make the choice to end it all, which I wish noone would make, but ultimately an end will come.

Important Things

Everyone in life has things that are important to them.  It's something we as a general species need to survive, things that give our individual lives meaning, give us direction, or keep us grounded.  Some are both straightforward and also complex, such as money.  To many people it is one of the driving forces of their lives, most waking thoughts are spent upon it, for one reason or another.  To others it is a sadly necessary component of their lives, and one that they would much rather not deal with.  Others are simpler, such as the need for companionship.  I'm not just talking about relationships, people as a whole need to form bonds with others in their lives.  Most people have acquaintances, and often refer to them as friends, but all too often, people are lacking in true, genuine, open friendship.  When one finds a friend who is a kindred soul, those are the friendships that mean the most, that we treasure and cling to, and the people we turn to when all else fails, and we aren't sure what lies before us.  We need to have that sort of person in our lives, even if just one person, with whom we can be ourselves, no pretenses, no elaborately constructed facade of ourselves, just a quiet reveling in the joy of the company of someone who understands us, even better than we understand ourselves, knows our faults and quirks, and calls us a friend all the same.


Generally I try to be a very rational person, think before I speak, and have a reason for the things I say and do.  Part of that, and my incredibly introspective nature, is the desire to know why I do things, what is the drive, the reason, the goal behind my pursuit.  The more that I think about my own life though, the more I feel like the things that are most important to me are ones I can't fully explain.  I can explain parts of them, but it's difficult to rationally explain why we trust some people but not others (when neither has given a conscious reason not to), it's hard to explain, and definitely cannot rationalize love, and at the end of the day, the things that are most important to us, are the things we love, and to a lesser extent (usually) the things we hate.  Emotions and passion tend to rule reason, but that as a whole is one of the things that make life so enjoyable, if frustrating.


I suppose the question is: what is important to you and what do you love?

Introduction

Like all things there should be a beginning.  I am usually a fairly quiet and reserved person, and often will not open up about myself, or my thoughts, preferring instead to listen to what others have to say, and telling them what they either need or want to hear.  I am an introvert, and a fairly guarded person, but sometimes typing or writing can make things both easier to say, and easier to work through in my head.  That's what this blog is about.  It may not be regularly updated, it may have thoughts or insights that interest or amuse only me, but hopefully those who come here might take something away, a new way of looking at a situation, or a thought that sparks an idea, as thoughts sometimes do.