HANDLING DECISIONS AND PROBLEMS

Understanding Decisions

It’s true. Even in real life, decision making is not always easy. Although people make decisions, or choices, everyday, many give little thought to the methods used to make them. Mistakes can be costly. Common sense calls for learning about decisions and how to make them skillfully.

What Are Decisions?        

                Daily living includes making hundreds of decisions. The small ones are the most common. Many are so simple that they are made routinely, with little or no effort by the deciders. Your family must decide everything from what to eat, to who drives the car, to where you sit while watching television. These, and many more other decisions like them, are so minor that it doesn’t really matter how they are made.

Despite their simplicity, small decisions can cause problems. Have you ever heard anyone say,”Don’t make a mountain out of a mole hill”? The message is, “Don’t make more of something than what it really is.” When people spend too much time worrying about small decisions, they may overlook the bigger decisions that need to be made.

How do you know whether or not a decision is an important one? The answer is Impact. Some decisions have a greater impact, or effect, on your life than others do. Because some decisions have little or no impact and others have a great deal, not every decision can be handled with the same level of care. The greater the impact, the more need to spend time, thought, and energy in making the decision. For example, choosing a hair style or barber affects your appearance for a while, but choosing a marriage partner has an impact on your life. The wise person puts more effort into one than the other.

As you sharpen your decision-making skills, learn to recognize what’s important and what isn’t. How would you rank the decisions in the following list: little or no impact, moderate impact, or high impact?

·         Choosing a career

·         Deciding what to wear to church

·         Choosing a friend

·         Deciding what to eat for lunch

·         Choosing a book to read

·         Deciding whether or not to take drugs

To be continued