[Decisions]

The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live - Flora Whittemore

Increasingly, I am finding that the decisions I am making are the wrong ones. Or even if they are technically right, it seems to be for the wrong reasons; and as Governor Weatherby Swann says in Pirates of the Caribbean, 'even a good decision if made for the wrong reasons can be a wrong decision'.

So what happens when we make a choice that’s not the one for us, or how do we even identify a right decision from one that isn’t? Is it wrong to do something simply because it is what someone else wants from us? I think most of us would agree that the answer is no. But what happens when these people have our ‘best interests’ at heart? Should we still do what we want instead?

Furthermore, there may be circumstances when we make certain decisions because we think it is what is expected of us. Whilst it may not ultimately be what we want, and no one is physically forcing us to do it, we still make ourselves take that path for no other reason than not wanting to let someone down. Perhaps we come from a family which is very sports orientated, but our passion lies in art. Instead of taking art, we take PE. It may be pleasing our family, but at the end of the day, will we really perform to the best of our ability doing something that isn’t truly where our enthusiasm lies?

The same goes for friends. Just because all our friends have done something, does that mean we should follow suit purely to conform? There must come a point at which we have to be selfish and make decisions based on what is right for us, and us alone.

But for some people, it might be too late. Perhaps they are now stuck on a path that will take them a certain way and it’s too late to back out. What about them? Why should they be stuck pleasing someone else for the rest of their life? It isn’t fair, and it isn’t right…