Matter of Choice...

In life one has to make innumerable choices, in fact what you are is a product of all the choices that you make in life. Some decisions are more complex and important than others and this lesson is about how to make correct choices in life.

There is a lot of existing literature on decision making, in fact there is a whole academic line of decision sciences but decision science has to be scientific and interestingly most important decisions of our lives are to be taken emotionally. Since the science of predicting emotions has not evolved yet decision making has to be an art form.

Karan Johar in his work Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum, 2000 says that one should only listen to one's heart while making decisions "Zindagi mein kuch banna ho, Kuch hasil karna ho, Kuch jeetna ho, To hamesha apne dil ki suno, Aur ager dil se bhi koi jawaab na aaye ... To apni aankhein band karke apni Maa aur Baba ka naam lo ... Phir dekhna tum har manzil paa sakoge, Har mushkil aasan ho jayegi, Jeet tumhari hogi ..... Sirf tumhari... "

Well most of the decisions in life are made more difficult by the thought "what will others say?, will others approve of it?". This leads one to embrace the flock mentality. Do what everyone else is. If you do what everybody else is then everyone will approve of your decision and as a result you confirm to the "mould". There is nothing wrong what-so-ever in confirming to the mould , in fact most often it is the safest bet. But sometimes one is faced with decisions which prompt one to take a different path. When heart says "Take a chance" and brain says "Dhopat Marga sodu nako' (quote by a popular Marathi poet Anant Phandi in one of his 'Phatka's - meaning don't leave the established path and tread in unchartered territories') here comes the real matter of choice.

The author doesn't intend to demean other matters of choice like 'which shirt to wear at a friend's marriage' or 'whether to long or short Nifty futures' or 'whether or not to upload your new photo on a social networking site' these matters of choice are also important but don't need the kind of analysis which the above mentioned matters of choice do.

When it comes to making difficult - potentially 'life changing' decisions you will always find plenty of people on both sides of your decision. Some even branding you a fool for thinking about your alternative as an option but then all others can see is just the part of the picture and that too only the present but you are the best judge of everything. Back yourself to take the 'leap of faith'. Till the time you feel that your decision is in your best interest and in the best interests of all the stakeholders who would be directly affected by it , go for it!

If you make a choice on your own and fail at least you'd have the satisfaction of having done something by your own wish while if you make your choice based on someone else's opinion and fail then all you can do is to blame yourself for not trusting yourself. And remember as rightly said by the great P.G. Wodehouse :" the worst three words in English language are 'could have been' ".

So when it comes to the matter of choice. Think about all the aspects, stakeholder and possibilities, back yourself to take the correct decision and Go for it! At the end of the day its 'your' life and it should be 'you' who chooses!