Every Person Is One Choice Away From Everything Changing

When I was at the lowest point of my life my father said this to me : "We don't make right choices. We make choices and prove them right."

when i'm in a dilemma and i cannot choose, i flip a coin, and before i look at the result, i think to myself, "what did i hope it would land on while i watched it flip in the air?" and that's my decision.

One of the hardest things I've had to deal with in growing older is the reality that there are thousands of lives I could live but I'll only ever live one.

“Whichever you choose, there’s always something there to love and to dread” Life changing quote

And suddenly, Carl awoke, sitting drunkenly at the bench he had sat in years before, realizing he was robbed

Its funny how every decision you’ve made in life led you to my comment

At age 64, I look back and I can see that life has often been like driving through a large town, without a map, and randomly choosing when I turned left, right, continued straight, or even made a u-turn. And how different it would have been, if I had just made even the tiniest decisions differently along the way. All of our lives are interconnected in ways we cannot even fathom. The death of just one of us can have domino effects that spread out across the world. It’s quite a total mind-phq, if you stop and think about it.

This is life . No matter the choices we make there are always regrets. For me, I would rather regret missed financial opportunities than regret not spending time with my friends and family while we are all still here and healthy on this earth together.

Can we just talk about how Carl single handedly made Novak's business fail.

If you’ve found your way here, i hope you’re doing alright.

This is like a much longer, more artistic version of the famous quote by Søren Kierkegaard: "Marry, and you'll regret it. Don't marry, you will also regret it. Marry or don't marry, you'll regret it either way." I love this video.

At 27 Carl felt an urge to leave home and forge a life for himself “while he was still young.” Sigh, it’s this kind of thinking that sucks all hope away for those who are older, like every risk you take has to be when you’re young. I’m 49, I don’t see myself as old, and I made a radical, life changing decision over a year ago. I’m currently selling everything I have, 25 years worth of my life, and I will soon be moving across the country and starting a new life. I am pursuing a dream and I left a relationship of 14 years that, though financially secure, was toxic. Being yelled at every day by a man who saw the worst in me was not the life I had envisioned for myself. I am teaching myself 2 other languages and preparing to go back to school and train for a new career. It is NEVER too late, you can always take risks and make radical changes and you don’t have to be “young” to do it (although people older than me applaud me for my move saying I’m “still young enough” to make such a change, and that makes me sad; it shows this attitude that youth is a requirement of change is one held by all age groups). I have my whole life ahead of me, I have zero regrets and I can’t wait to start a happier and more prosperous life with my 2 dogs on the east coast. Yes, it was a little more complex - I owned a home with my ex and couldn’t just hop in a car and leave, I had to wait to get bought out for my half of the house, plus I had decades of accumulated stuff I had to part with. I’m leaving with my dogs and whatever belongings will fit into my car, that’s it. It has been freeing to sell, donate, recycle and throw away decades of unnecessary purchases. The only things I am taking with me will fit into my small car. I’m also letting go of friendships with those who don’t encourage and support me. You really find out who your true friends are when you make a major change in your life. You can always make radical, positive changes, at any age, as long as you have your mind and your dreams. Don’t stay in that secure but horrible relationship with someone who no longer loves you, treasures you or gets you, don’t stay in that high paying but stressful job. You can change at any age.

"Successful people don't make the right choice. They make their choice right."

'Karl went on a walk around a city by himself moderately drunk , he walked down the edge of the city along the harbour ..................................................' - Ah shit , here we go again

In situations like this, it helps to ask yourself “if I make this choice, and it ends up failing, will I still be glad I made it?” If the answer is yes, then you have your decision. Decision making like this also depends on passion, and a lot of faith. Carl seems to lack that severely in both scenarios that played out, and only has the groundwork for it at the end. His friend offered him an opportunity. Not deciding is also a decision, and him not jumping on it after taking some time to reflect indicates he’s not that passionate about the idea to begin with. Ergo, he’s already made his decision. Also, Carl is limiting his life into what’s possible and what’s not. Who says that’s the only opportunity for him to move to Australia? There could be a 3rd scenario where he rises high up enough in his company and asks to be transferred to Australia, and his wife is more open to it at that point. And his wife seeing him hang out with his best friend and their kids makes her change her mind and they start their own family. Boom, he gets everything he wanted then.

What I took away from this: Its more important to be at peace with the choices we make than to toil over which choice was “right.” We'll never get it quite right. We'll never have enough information to make the best choice in every situation. We’re all destined to make bad choices…eventually. We always give up something when we take something else—one is not better than the other; they’re just different. In the end, it seems wisest to free yourself up to make as many different choices as you can, stay flexible, and keep moving.

For being only 20 minutes, this video felt like an hour. Brilliant.

Never take advice off people who don't have to live with the consequences

This video made me feel weirdly comfortable to be living my own life, just thinking about the amazing uniqueness of your life, meaning no one could live it exactly like you, and no one could ever have the exact same experiences..

When I was in my senior year, I decided to ask a bunch of people what career would be right for me. I needed guidance. They all gave me answers based on their life and their choices, they claimed I would be a good fit, disregarding my passions and dreams. I realized then that no one could make such a decision for me, despite their advices, I followed a completely different route. I am happy that I did but we need to understand that choosing one option over the other is not the end. I still make many choices and direct my course according to my values. There is never an end point to reach. Set sail and direct your course as the wind blows. Because that’s all one can do.