The Power of Choice
Sometimes we justify our most regrettable actions with, “I had no choice!” I’ll admit it. I have said it, even though it is usually not true and not particularly helpful. Besides, when I feel that I have no choice, I become a victim to circumstance.
I knew of a young woman attending a Christian college. Although an undergraduate, graduate school required for her to have taken Organic Chemistry. She took it and failed the semester. She could have made the choice to change majors, telling herself that she is not smart enough to continue with this major or to go to graduate school. She could have dropped out of college, telling herself that she was wasting her time.
But she weighed her choices and decided to take Organic Chemistry again. She studied the best she knew how, and although she passed, her grade did not make the cut.
Again, she was faced with a choice. She agonized over what to do. This was costing her parents thousands of dollars with no guarantee that she was going to graduate or go on to graduate school.
Where others would have given up, this girl decided to take Organic Chemistry for a third time. This time, she took a different approach. She decided that she needed to learn how to study for such a challenging course. She sought tutoring; she lead study groups, and she devoted the time required to make sure that she wasn’t just memorizing the material but that she understood the material. This time, she passed with flying colors and went on to earn a doctorate in physical therapy.
This is a prime example of the power of weighing our choices, even the bad ones. As in the case of this young woman, this includes considering the advantages and disadvantages of each choice so that an informed decision can be made.
It helps to have a clear idea of the outcome you desire or what you hope to achieve. Once that is established, you need to list all of the options at your disposal, even the ones you think are bad, even the ones that you believe will result in the worst consequences. This young woman could have chosen to change majors. She could have changed universities. She could have dropped out altogether.
Instead, she gathered information about each option so she could determine the likely outcome of each. This includes gathering the pros and cons of each option, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each. It also includes considering the consequences.
Armed with this information, it helps to rank the options, putting favorites at the top, the ones with the most desired consequences. They can also be ranked based on the ones perceived to be easier, or quicker, or less expensive. In her case, she ranked based on which option would be more likely to bring the desired outcome. She wanted to be a physical therapist. There was no other major that appealed to her. She loved the university she was attending. She didn’t want to transfer. Taking the time to weigh these choices made her desired choice clear. So that, instead of saying, “ I have failed Organic Chemistry so I changed majors. I had no choice,” what she said was, “I have weighed all of my options and this seems like the best choice because….”
The final step of making choices is reviewing and reflecting. After making a choice, the one that you believe to be the best of all of your options, spend some time reflecting on the choice you made, as well as the results and the consequences. Did it turn out as you hoped? Were you correct in your assertion? If not, what could you have done differently? What different choice might you have made?
In the case of this young woman, taking the time to reflect on how she approached the third time differently and the dramatic difference it made in her grade has the potential to inform how she approaches difficult tasks in the future.
Choosing is a part of life and we must practice the skill of going through the steps required to make good choices.
As a disciple, my best choices are made on my knees, as I ask God what he wants me to choose. When we live our lives in communion with God, we are more likely to be in tune with his Spirit, guiding us as to which way to go.
