We make smaller and bigger choices in our lives every day. Some choices have already been made and we call them habits.
Choices can never be made again, because there is never exactly the same situation, but we can always make choices in a new situation. One of the problems of being human is that we have to make choices based on information that is never complete. As long as we don’t realise this, we drown ourselves in a constant paralysis of analysis – I need to gather more information, read more of it, question more of it, analyse it, have another meeting, etc. But it is only a vicious circle that postpones the choice, or even stops life in its tracks. Life energy simply stands still and has no direction unless we give it direction.
But what is the right choice and what is the wrong choice? I believe there is no single answer here (because there is no such thing as complete sufficiency), but a closer approximation is a sense of whether the choice is made:
1) out of fear or
2) out of faith and love?
Choices made out of fear are often difficult, laborious. The choice made out of fear is characterised by escape or protection from danger or discomfort. For example, people are in a relationship because they are afraid to be alone. Or, for example, working despite the fact that it takes more than it gives, but not daring to quit for fear of losing income or status? Choices made out of fear are made against a background of avoiding general discomfort.
However, choices made in faith and love are in line with our true desires and values, and with the trust that life will support us when we need it. I’ve made those choices and bravely stepped into the unknown, even when it seemed scary. When I became self-employed, there was a very big fear of not having a job, no income, etc. But I believed that because I enjoy training, supporting introspection and looking at myself, this would be resolved. Customers will come who are prepared to pay. And so it went, they kept coming and coming. If you do things with all your heart and passion, for example, when it comes to money, you will no longer make money, money will make you. New opportunities are opening up, which before fear did not give them a chance to approach.
What choices have you made in your life out of fear and what have been the consequences? What choices have been made in terms of supporting life by faith and what have been the consequences?
The best cure for fear is simply to step into it. It is not he who is not afraid of anything who is brave, but he who acts in spite of his fears, and in spite of the fears of others who reinforce his fears.
