So many forks in the road

It begins shortly after birth and continues throughout our lives. Every decision we make that leads to a choice alters the direction our lives take. At any point in our lives, we are the result of the choices we've made.

So the responsibility for who we are, what we believe, and where we're going from here isn't anyone else's responsibility, it's our own. You may be so morally bogged down that anything you do that gives you even a taste of pleasure causes you to feel guilty and self-critical. The other side of the coin obviously is not feeling guilty about anything you do which does away with the governor that most people have on their lives. Both of these diametrically opposed positions are the result of choices we've made in our lives. Which is right and which is wrong?

Can you be a moral person without being religious and can you be religious without being moral? The answer to both those questions is a resounding yes. We can be either because we choose who we are and what we do.

We all know people who seem to make really bad choices over and over again and we ask ourselves and each other why that happens. We wonder why they don't learn from their mistakes. It's the old definition of insanity that defines it as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. But that's exactly what those people do. They somehow think that things are going to change, that things are going to be different this time, that in fact a different result WILL be reached even though the circumstances are the same and they're disappointed and confused when the result is the same as it's been previously.

We all know people who are afraid of change; who are stuck in a time-loop of the same old song, 50th verse, when you know how it's going to end but you do nothing to alter it because even though you know you're not going to be thrilled with the outcome, you at least think you know what the outcome is going to be and because you do, you know you've confronted it before and can confront it again. On the other hand, if you embrace change, there is a certain danger involved because of NOT knowing what's going to happen or how you're going to handle it. So when faced with something bad and something good, these people make the illogical decision to choose bad over good because they at least know how the bad is going to end and they don't know what's going to happen is they choose the good option. In fact, they either convince themselves or are convinced by others who are trying to hold onto the status quo that the good could be ever worse than the bad has been.

Now that may sound convoluted to some of you but people in the world make choices due to a misreading of reality and they do it over and over again. Every friend we've ever had, every game we've ever played, every subject we've ever studied, every person we've ever dated, every job we've ever had, every success or failure we've ever experienced have led us to this point in our lives and will eventually lead us to death's door. What kind of legacy will we leave behind? How will people remember us? More importantly, how will our children and our friends remember us? As people who tried as hard as they could to bring joy and happiness into their lives and the lives of others or those who continually made the same bad choices expecting a different outcome time after time.

My life has ended up okay. Not perfect mind you, just okay. It could have been much better but it also could have been much worse. I made some good choices but I made some bad ones too so I place myself somewhere around the middle of the pack in terms of getting out of life what I put into it and what I expected from an early age. And ending up in this place in a world fraught with daily challenges, disappointments and heartache is not a bad place to be.