2010 is almost over folks and I for one am totally ready to let it go.(bye bye 2010, don't let the door hit ya ...)
I am determined to make 2011 the year where I actually make some decisions rather than letting life make them for me through my amazing ability to procrastinate and "settle".
(ugh)
It could be all over in 2012 anyway according to the gazillion books in the 2012 section - yes, there is an actual 2012 section, I've seen it - at the Barnes and Noble, so we better get crackin' with all this 'make our lives what we want them to be' stuff.
(but I wouldn't run up your credit cards deciding that is going to happen)
The word 'decision' comes from the Latin ‘decisio’ which means “to cut off" and when we make a decision, we cut off that other option and this is where the deciding thing gets tricky and sometimes scary.
Like if we decide to eat that chocolate cake, we lose that time on the treadmill (a small thing) and if we decide to buy that new car, we lose our access to that money we saved (a bigger thing) and if we decide to quit that job we hate, we lose our steady income (maybe) and at the very least our ability to have an actual job title when we fill out one of those forms that requires it (a much bigger thing, trust me).
Deciding is about being strong enough in our choice to allow a 'cutting off' of those other options.
Our lives are literally made up of all the decisions we have ever made.
(remember that song about "years of bad decisions running down her face" - ugh, that's a depressing one, but yeah, those bad decisions make us who we are, too)
I usually make decisions with my gut and intuition. I don't think I've ever made one of those pros and cons lists that hubby is so fond of.(he even weights the pros and cons on a lined yellow notepad and tries to calculate the value of every outcome - what fun is that, I ask you and it works no better than guts and intuition anyway, believe me)
Once we reach the point where a decision is needed, the game changes. This is when we move out of discomfort and into plain old fear. This is also when the universe sends things at us to test our commitment to our decision.
So, let's talk about deciding as we start 2011. What decisions have we been putting off? What do we need to decide to say no to, so that we can say yes to the important stuff? What is the 'important stuff' anyway? What are we 'settling' for because we are afraid to make that decision and cut something off? Is our comfort zone making us a little too comfortable?
Part II - The Game ChangerDecisions, decisions ... photograph by Urban Pink Photography
*FINAL CHRISTMAS SPECIAL - 12/15-12/19 ONLY - will bump up all U.S. first class shipping to priority mail plus a 10% discount with coupon code DECIDE in my Polarity shop and my Uncorked shop*
4 comments
Thank you for this! I've decided to make this new year the year where I get to quit my part-time job come November!! That gives me 11 months to make those gut decisions and yellow sheets. I'm scared and excited all at the same time. I agree that if 2012 is going to be the end of it all, I might as well enjoy 1 month as a true 'artist'.
I enjoyed this, (well, I enjoy all your posts) but this one hit home. Huge decisions loom on the horizon, and (as someone who shies away from conflict) that's a little intimidating. Might as well bite the bullet!
Thank you, Cat!
I have a decision to make.
(Decision is one of the english words I most frequently need to look up. What does that say about me?)
Change is in the air, I feel it too, Cat. I keep talking (well babbling) out loud because I can't quite grasp how to put it into place.
But I know too, it's going to be a life of PROactivity, not REACTivity.
We are on our way.
xoSherry
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