The Dark side of Choice.

 


I love writing. I derive pleasure in simply putting pen to paper. I have written a host of things that lie hidden and carefully stored away from prying eyes. However, I have made a resolve to share some of those hence, I share a piece I wrote over a year ago as I realized that it is quite relevant at this time. I call it " The Dark side of Choice".

Choice is supposed to be a good thing. A gift in itself. Alas, it is sometimes the bane of many pursuits in life. If peradventure you make a wrong choice, then you are totally tangential to your destiny and that is rather unfortunate. So choice is a big deal. Choice is a serious business.

Imagine my frustration when I went to the ice-cream parlour once to treat myself to a great sweet tasting, having crushed my health goals for the week and desiring to reward myself. I simply wanted ice- cream, that was all I wanted only to be confronted with a long list of options. You won't believe there were about 32 different options of ice-cream flavours to choose from. I am not kidding. 

There was apple pie,banana, birthday cake, butter brickle, butter pecan, cappuccino, craze, cherry vanilla, chocolate, chocolate almond, chocolate rainforest, chocolate marshmellow, coffee, cookie dough, cookies 'N'  cream, cookie monster, eggnog, espresso, Kahlua & cream, maple walnut, mint chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, orange pineapple, pistachio, peanut butter cup, rocky mountain raspberry, rum raisin, strawberry, strawberry cheesecake, vanilla, vanilla fudge, and vanilla peanut butter. What was supposed to be a simple delight turned out to be a virtual mimick my medical board exams. 





It is almost as if this society is all set to make life difficult with the constant barrage with the need to make sophisticated selections that would either make or mar us on the free platter of choice.That is the 'dark' side of choice. Choice in itself is an inordinate thing. Choice is like an invisible wand placed in the hands of every human with the ability to wield it at your own pleasure to decide your own fate. That is puissant , almost scary. It is birthed out of your free will. Your voilition.

Free will is defined as the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion. Free will is the ability to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of responsibility, praise, guilt, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actions that are freely chosen.

While Choice is defined as an act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities.

There is an information overload that doesn't help matters at all. We have information hitting us from left, right and center, almost unsolicited like tennis balls drifting hapharzardly across the court. This should be no surprise because the good book helps us understand that in the last days, knowledge will increase. Indeed these are perilious times . To say the least, we are in a pandemic. Therefore making simple decisions a herculean task. The choice of a phone plan, the phone itself, the food to eat, what to drink, what movie to watch, who to marry. The list is endless.

There has to be a  blessing in choice. It was meant to be a gift in the first place. Even though it was choice that put our very first ancestors is trouble. How then can we err on the side of caution when it comes to choice ? Having options in life , being privy to alternatives given a certain level of control, almost like a leeway to express the entirety of our humanity.

Ultimately, what you decide to do with choice when faced with it is your call. Therefore, clinch it and have a free ride.





“Sometimes it’s the smallest decisions that can change your life forever.” — Keri Russell


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