Family, History, Mysteries, Uncategorized

Decisions, decisions

33 Comments

Son and Daughter in Law successfully bid on a new home last month. They close in early September. They matched an existing bid on the home, and the home owners picked Son and Dil. We are all most grateful.

I asked Son why he thought the owner picked them. He said he thought it was because they liked the bank they were working with better than the bank the other bidders were working with. I thought that was reasonable.

A couple of weeks ago Son and his wife took another look through the house, and ran into one of the owners. The owner, a very religious person, told him that they chose Son’s and his wife’s bid after concerted and serious prayer because they both had Old Testament names. How random, but again, we are grateful!

It is said that William Lyon Mackenzie King, an early 1900’s Prime Minister of Canada, used to make important government decisions by flipping open the Bible with his eyes closed and taking as an omen whatever verse his finger landed on. I find that alarming. I tend to use my head and my heart to make decisions, but mostly I decide using my heart. Sometimes, though, following my heart and instinct has led to disaster. It is only through a timely intervention by my head that I can proceed.

How do you make decisions? Tell of important decisions you or others have made that worked out or didn’t work out? Why or why not?

33 thoughts on “Decisions, decisions”

  1. August 5 is National Underwear Day
    Boxers or briefs?
    After careful analysis of the problem and examining all the ins and outs, I’ve selected the only choice available. And also decided to do the laundry.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

        1. Sherrilee, ironic you should say that today. Happy Birthday for yesterday.
          Jacque, yes.
          Renee, I made this decision instantly, and out of thin air, it seemed. But what Bill said was kind of right. I really do find it hard to keep my mouth shut, and the blog was starting to take over my life.
          PJ, I’ve probably hurt you. I’m sorry.You were right, I was judgemental. But look back at things you’ve said over the years. I really did like your story and song the other day. And I like your picture on your avatar.
          And everyone else, great people, it was fun. Thanks.

          Liked by 1 person

        2. Actually, no, Fenton, you did not hurt me. I’ve got a thicker hide than that. Feel free to comment on the blog regardless of whether or not I agree with your opinion.

          As a 78 year old woman who has spent years volunteering at Face to Face and Planned Parenthood, I can certainly appreciate that my reaction to Clyde’s story was different than yours (and possibly most men’s), and I felt strongly enough about it to speak up. If that causes you to think that you need to tip toe around me, that’s on you.

          Liked by 2 people

        3. I hope everyone here feels that they can express their opinion. One of the things that I really like about this group (and I think we need to reminder ourselves about it every now and then) is that this should be a kind place. So even if we disagree I hope we can always be kind about it.

          Liked by 4 people

  2. I have to go into the office today. It’s a long story but it’s making me angry because it’s so corporate America the way it’s played out. My decision of the day was earrings or no earrings. Normally during the last few months when I’ve had a chance to get out, I’ve been excited about picking out earrings. (L.ord knows I have enough of them to choose from.). But this morning it just felt like a small active rebellion to leave the earrings in their drawers.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

      1. Next year on my birthday .. although sitting in this cube this morning makes me yearn for 12 months from now. I couldn’t think of a graceful way to exit just a few months after coming back from furlough. So many people did so much work on my accounts and held them together while I was gone so I’m going to work the programs I have through June and then making my announcement. But with Covid rising who knows whether this bubble will be bursting soon or not.

        Liked by 2 people

        Reply

    2. What I’m wondering about, vs, is what are you wearing on your feet?

      I’m also wondering about whether or not you have clients at this stage of the pandemic who are considering travel as viable options for a rewards program?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Zorries (blue). I have not had any client meetings in person and don’t expect to for quite some time. And my company always does a very relaxed dress code in the summer. The owners exact words are “if you can’t get arrested for wearing it then it’s ok.” . So shorts, top and zorries today.

        Liked by 3 people

        Reply

  3. I realize my earring conundrum didn’t actually answer the question. I am a quick decision maker. I line up as many facts asI have and then I make the decision. I have a good friend who’s the complete opposite of me – she struggles and struggles and struggles with making decisions, even ones that I think are fairly insignificant. But I think that’s just the way people are. One of the things about making decisions quickly is that you have to say to yourself it’s going to be the right decision however it turns out. And let it go. This is a really long winded way to say I can’t think of any decisions that I’ve made that have been absolute disasters. Because even things that turned out badly (like two marriages) started out in the right place so how could I have known differently?

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  4. I do pretty much what Renee described, the combination head and heart to make decisions. I made a couple of them in my 20s that I look back on and say “WHAT was I thinking?”, but as VS pointed out, it seemed right at the time. AND without that decision, I wouldn’t have gotten to other places that I wanted to be..

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  5. We make decisions the way Hemingway describes going bankrupt: “Gradually and then suddenly.”

    What that means is that the idea of the decision is in the air for some time and we become used to that idea, then impatient with that idea, then one day we make the decision.

    There are always unforeseen ramifications to big decisions but we expect that and are prepared to accommodate them. We have not made any decisions we needed to undo, but one or two we regretted we were forced to make. So it goes.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  6. Decisions are one of the few things that are easier now that I’m old. First, many of the decisions I now face have very few options. While that is unpleasant, it makes the decisions easier. Having no money simplifies things more than you’d guess.

    And I guess being old helps because having a long track record of questionable decisions can, ultimately, be instructive. Whenever I face a tough decision the immature, truth-defying child in me has plenty of opinions, but now I’m pretty canny about his tricks. Example: I would like to buy an exercise bicycle, but there are two issues. No money is one. The bigger one is that I strongly suspect my right knee is going to veto any serious attempt at exercise. Making the purchase would make me feel virtuous, but then remorse would set in when the right knee vetoes any impulse to use the machine.

    Liked by 6 people

    Reply

  7. my decision making process is always the right one

    my other thought is that not to make a decision is to make a decision

    that happens often to others i try not to let it happen to me but i am afraid i have so many decisions to deal with done get left by the wayside

    i am thinking those good christians you son bought the house from committed a unfair situation when they told your son what the offer from the other person was in order for them to match.

    i have made decisions every which way and there is no tile that is bulletproof
    brain, gut, shake of the dice, lots of thought, instant decision
    lots of success and failure in each

    i bought a jaguar from a friend of my moms
    when i sold it i was told the best two days in a jaguar owners life are the day they bought it and the day they sold it. there are other decisions that play out the same way

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

        1. I am not sure, but they sidn’t meet the owners until after the bid was accepted. Perhaps the real estate agents knew?

          Liked by 1 person

  8. I enjoy making decisions. And I don’t want to discuss it to death first. And the worst decisions are the ones I have to wait to make because I don’t have all the information yet. That will drive me crazy.
    How’s that phrase go: “We make the best decision we at the time we make it with the information we have at the time”.
    Yep. And then, like VS says, we just have to go with it.

    When I started farming without Dad, It took me a long time to stop asking “Is this what Dad would do?” And I mean, he did teach me and I did learn all of this from him, but they also needed to be MY decisions, not his. So I say that as a sign of growth.

    Making decisions involves looking at what will be affected and how that will change. Pros and Cons. And trust your gut.

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  9. Many times, when building a set, in the middle of it all I have to ask myself, ‘Who’s idea was this??’ And it was mine and it wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made… “It seemed like a good idea at the time”…

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

  10. one of the things i liked best about bill clinton was his ability to change a stance in an issue once he got more information that allowed him to see the other side of an issue.
    it’s amazing what information can do to the decision making process

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

  11. As others have pointed out already, there are numerous ways of making decisions. I have made my share of both good and bad ones using all kinds of methods. I agree with tim, that not making a decision is, in fact, making one.
    Fortunately most decisions have no lasting impact, but for those that do, I think it’s important at some point to forgive yourself, even if you’ve made one that hurts other people. Remorse is a good thing, but at some point it ceases to be productive to kick yourself in the butt. At that point you need to resolve to do better in the future and move on.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  13. Mackenzie King was a pretty fascinating guy. He was excessively into spiritualism and mediums, and liked to have conversations with his deceased mother and dogs. I think he asked his mom for political advice at the seances.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

  15. That reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode starring William Shatner, Nick Of Time, where he cannot make any decisions without consulting a table-top fortune telling machine.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

  16. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing. A problem is a chance for you to do your best.

    – Theodore Roosevelt

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.