Which Path to Choose?

Delay has certain wisdom features about it, though often it’s also peculiarly like procrastination, and that taken to extremes is indecisiveness verging on hellish, situation-staid depression.

This is Avoidance-Avoidance Land we’ve reached.

Anchoring to uncertain reefs, choice is hedged and decisions are made uncertainly; the mood aboard, diffident. The ship that is our normally steady soul is teetering as the tide of objective vision sinks lower into invisibility.

The territory of Indecision is a vast array of islands all appearing to look the same. Almost like fearing icecaps, there is vagrant trust for the intel coming in. But with the mounting seconds, clamour begins to unravel the soul more than the presence of physical hazards. Indecisiveness promotes anxiety.

Challenging Indecision

If times of indecision coexist in peace we can claim wisdom for delay. Even when peace doesn’t cover us, at times, we can somehow know that delay is best. This is borne in patient understanding for the moment’s special needs.

However, many problems are not like this.

Spiritual indifference comes over us much of the time in life, particularly when confidence is rocked for some reason. Despite our rejection of these feelings, we can’t help but to need to deal with their recurrences. A challenging mini-season of spiritual distancing has perhaps taken a hold.

Almost mechanically, however, we can re-track our faltering gait. But panic is not the way to it. The mind must be chastened back to reasonability and rationality.

Then, indecision can be challenged with more adroitness.

Resolving to Risk and Decide

With a right mind and a quelled heart, all is set for the making of the decision. Proponents are canvassed, and after the jury’s met and returned, the decision is poised.

Despite whatever indecision remains—and it comes back without warning, surprising us at times—it pays us, however, to decide, and with confidence we go.

But confidence is highly contingent on courage.

Then again, courage is just the will to decide. It’s not operating without fear; it operates in spite of the fear.

We decide to decide, then we decide—based on all the information we have to hand, and satisfied that we’ll probably never have ‘enough’ information, so further delay is pointless.

Taking the Decided Path and Sticking To It

Only when later on it’s seen that we’ve chosen the wrong path do we turn back. Everyone makes mistakes in their decision-making.

But if there’s no mistake why do we turn back? Too many of us turn back when the going gets hard, and most of life is about continuity; jump off the horse for one minute and it gallops off the next. Life is about staying on the horse.

Once we’ve decided, and we know it’s a good path, the only decision remaining is to commit to sticking to it.

© 2011 S. J. Wickham.