I’m quite possibly the most indecisive person in the world. I hate making any decision — whether it’s foam or no foam on my coffee to deciding on where to apply to graduate school. (Or if I even want to go.) I realize there’s a certain amount of freedom to having so many choices, but sometimes it feels like more of a burden than a liberty. I always want to know what the alternatives are. I want to know what my best options are, and to consider all possible scenarios before I make my choice.
I think what indecisiveness really comes down to is the fear of discontentment. I mentioned a couple weeks ago the idea of the road less traveled as discussed by Robert Frost. I think this poem is so well-known primarily because well, it’s still required in school, but also because it’s so relatable. He talks about how he is sorry that he could not travel both because he is only one person.
It’s all fairly frustrating.
Regardless, I think it comes down to knowing whatever choice you make in the long run, you’ll be satisfied with that choice
Deciding where to attend undergrad was enough of a struggle to last a lifetime. In retrospection, whatever choice I made probably would have turned out fine. Most schools offer similar degrees and there are countless opportunities almost anywhere. But I chose to come here. And so did you. We may look at all the other options and other choices we could have made and wonder which was the right one, but I’m starting to believe there isn’t a “right” one.
Life is all about choices and being OK with those choices later. There’s a saying from back home that “it may always be greener on the other side, but the water bill is always higher.” We may wish things had turned out differently than they did because it’s not always easy to recognize how good things really are now. It’s easy to get caught up in the alternate-universe mindset, constantly wondering how different things might be. This brings on the “what-if” scenarios, which often brings on a serious case of chronic complaining.
There’s something to be said for making our choices, and appreciating them for what they are. You’ll never know what the other road might have held — it may have been more fun, it might have offered extra foam on my coffee, it might have been a graduate school offering a study abroad program to the moon. All I know is what this road is bringing me to, what this path has offered me, and that Harding should at least consider a program to the moon.
With that in mind, appreciate the liberty of your choices, and know that only with contentment can we make the “right” choice.
