Choosing
To be, or not to be, that is the choice.
We wish that were true, and in some ways it is the essential existential question; but choosing isn’t what we usually do. More often than not, we live in the comfort of not-choosing. Small choices make us happy – do I choose the Italian roast this morning or the breakfast blend? Do I have oatmeal or do I have toast? Over easy or scrambled? Do I buy a car or a truck? Do I go for the high mileage or comfort?
Pliers or crescent wrench, your choice, $9.95!
Really?
The bigger things, who we love, where we live, what job we take, what religion we ascribe to, what health status we embark upon, what language we speak, what family we are born to, what air we breath … do we really have the choices we think we do? We like to think we have choice, but what may seem like choice may be rationalization, backfilling, and story telling. It’s only a choice after you’ve made it, after you’ve had a chance to invent the options and measure the outcomes. To be a choice, there must be options weighed.
What choice do we really have?
That is the question.