Decisions

Decisions Decisions, we make them every day.  Big ones, small ones, good ones, bad ones - it's a part of life.  The people around you are making similar decisions too, we're all just a bunch of meat sacks making our way through life generally trying to make the best decisions we can to make our lives or others' lives better and worth going on.   Sometimes you may agree with the choices other people make, sometimes you may think that person is a complete moron for the paths they make for themselves.  Ultimately, there's not much you can do to not have to make choices or be affected by the ones that someone else makes, but looking at the factors that go into it may help ease the frustrations that may arise from them.

There are many things that can go into making a decision, big or small. Factors such as Beliefs - Religious or not - Past Experiences, Personal Commitments, Habits,  and the ever pressing, Outside Influences.  Everyone has a different way that any or all of the factors affect their choices.  Often times the different factors may even contradict each other, which makes deciding which way to go with anything even more difficult.  I'm not going to go into great detail about all of the ways that you or anyone else is affected by these factors, there's research papers out there already if you want to really dive into it.  I did, and it really opened my eyes to what others may be going through when trying to make their decisions, and I hope my insight into it will help you as well.

Starting out big to get it out of the way and hopefully not make you mad at me for throwing religous beliefs under the bus, is the belief factor.  Religions obviously come into play with many people in the world. Each religion has their own "rule book" for life. Some even share the same book, but may pick and choose the different rules that fit their lifestyle better, or read it differently than one another because it was written long long ago and the interpretations can get a little hazy.  Either way, people devote their lives to this rule book, or at least part of it, and will make their choices based off of what is written. You may not agree with their religion, but they probably don't agree with you being a heathen swine either, life is funny that way, get over it.  However, beliefs don't just start and end with religion.  I believe that if I eat certain foods for lunch I'm going to feel like crap all day.  Is it always true? No, but I'm free to have my beliefs so get off my back!!  I also believe that everyone has the right to make choices that will make them happy and their lives better as long as it doesn't critically affect the happiness of others.  If you look around, I'm willing to bet you know people that don't believe some people shouldn't be happy and be able to make choices that make them happy... those people are called Assclowns, and you should disassociate yourself with them.

Past Experiences will also be a huge factor for most people.  If you put your hand on a hot stove that you can clearly see is turned on, you'll probably not do that again.  Maybe it won't, and maybe you should yell at your parents for having you in a bubble your whole life and not let you make mistakes like that, but I digress.. Good or bad, when it comes time to make a decision, you're probably going to look back on anything remotely similar to the situation at hand to give you some indication for what you need to do. Even if you didn't personally experience it, it can affect your decisions.   I've seen a lot of videos on YouTube that have made it easier for me to decide to stop at red lights and to keep my eyes on the road when driving because you never know when a car is going to just fall out of the sky and you're going to need every precious millisecond you can muster to make the adjustments necessary. You thought I was kidding .. But maybe someone doesn't watch YouTube videos of car cams for hours on end like I have, that's their decision as well. Maybe they have beef with YouTube or don't want to have an anxiety attack watching videos like that... where was I going with this?  On the flip side, maybe you've had a really good experience with something, I'd bet that you would make that choice again huh?  Even more interesting, maybe you had a good experience with a bad decision... That's when it gets fun!

Personal commitments can really change a person's way of navigating through choices.  If someone has a deep personal commitment to anything, they're going to try to make the absolute best decision they can.  No one wants people to look back see that they were the ones that chose the Double Stuft Oreos over the regular ones and look down on them for their piss poor decisions as they scrape of 6lbs of extra cream. Maybe a little extreme, but ultimately if your name is going to be associated with it, you're gonna think a little harder about it more often than not.  But, under no circumstances, should you decide to bring me Double or Mega Stuft Oreos, I will judge you harshly..

Habits are a hard thing to break, and there's been a lot decisions you have made that were a result of habit. Smokers are usually the first that come to mind to me when talking about habits. They decide to take an opportunity to get out of a building for some fresh air and ruin it and their bodies by coating their lungs with sludge vapor.  Or maybe it's a lack of habit to turn on your F-ing turn signal when coming into my lane at the last minute, that is an example of a bad decision that will lead to my being unhappy because I'm surely cussing you out and using words that are so explicit in nature that I'm sure to have secured my seat on the throne of hell.  At least one of the circles of hell, I think I could settle for that, as long as it's one of the sexy circles.

When talking about outside influences, there's such a broad range that can be considered.  Environment, Economy, Even family and friends are some of the outside influence that change up the process.   Friends and Family are always eager to weigh in on the situation and try to get you to swing your vote one way or the other based on the factors that have affected their decisions as well.  Of course, to them their way is usually the only way, and you want to keep them happy because you're human and you want people to like you.  So you take their considerations and that may cause you to go against your gut and instincts on the matter at hand because they obviously have had something similar happen to them and they have already determined the best solution for you.  Not only does that make it an easy shortcut, but you now have a scapegoat for the fall out.  But, when you're at the grocery store and you ask a friend which Oreos to buy, if they say Mega Stuft, don't listen to them.  This brings up another good point.. sometimes your outside influences will get you in trouble because they suck at life and can't see how their viewpoint may be completely counter-intuitive (That's my favorite fancy word for stupid).  So definitely take what they have to say into consideration, but gracefully counter their opinion on the Mega Stuft Oreos and go with the regular.. you can't go wrong with the original.

Overall, your decisions are your own personal choices.  People won't always agree with you, and you will make some bad ones that could potentially affect millions if not billions of people, but generally the decisions of my audience aren't that major, so just pick a damn restaurant and if it turns out to be bad that will just build a data bank up for you to help you make a better choice in the future. Let me help you with the Oreo choice though... regular... you're welcome.  Also, on the small end of the decision making spectrum, if you don't agree with someone else's choices, but they don't really affect you much, just keep your opinions to yourself. Unless you've walked in their shoes, or had all of the factors that go into their decisions affect you in the exact same way, you're probably wrong in criticizing them, don't be a jerk.  If you are in the minority, and you make large scale decisions that could possibly help or destroy the world... take some time on that choice, it's not a good idea to just base it on just one or two of the factors, many people are dependent on you to not screw that choice up.. We're all in this together, help each other make good choices, don't do things that will deliberately affect someone else negatively, and under no circumstances, bring me anything but regular Oreos.... Damn, I need some Oreos...

Of course, that's just my 2 Cents... your mileage may vary