Thursday, April 30, 2015

#14 - Decisions, decisions

I was thinking today about small decisions.

Small decisions that, if you look at them a certain way, are really big ones. 

In middle school, right before 8th grade, my brothers and I didn't know what school we were going to the next year.

We had heard about a brand new school opening up. No reputation, no history. I don't even remember who we heard about it from. 

Anyway, if any number of events had happened differently, it's likely that we would have gone to another school, and never thought about it again. My whole life would have had a very different trajectory. Many of the people I know would be strangers. Much of my personal and professional history would be erased and replaced with something else. It's hard to imagine. 

Or if my grandma had not moved across the country with four kids in a station wagon, bringing my mom to Arizona. It's extremely likely I wouldn't be here today. A different choice would have jeopardized my entire existence.  

Or if I had taken an internship in Washington state instead of California. Who knows where that would lead?

When I younger, these thoughts overwhelmed me. I wondered if wearing a striped shirt instead of a cleverly worded graphic T would somehow set off a chain reaction to alter the course of human history. And don't get started about which way I combed my hair. 

But even the big decisions don't have to be overwhelming. They don't have to be heavy and burdensome - what if I choose the wrong thing?

Instead, maybe a different choice can open up new possibilities. So make a choice - you never know what cool, amazing, wonderful thing could result from it. 

Like me. :D