Why is it so hard for me to make decisions?  With some stuff, it’s a no brainer but with other things, I frett and frett over it.

For example, it was easy to make the choice of giving in when Isabella begged to go outside and play on Saturday, even though it was chilly. And it was easy to decide that she needed to wear a hat.

However, when getting ready for my Shred this morning, I couldn’t decided if I should continue with Level 1 or jump up to Level 2. I kid you not, I literally stood in my basement and stared at the TV for a full 5 minutes trying to decide what to do. You would think the world might end if I went the wrong way!  

Another conflict over the weekend – whether to complain about the cake I ordered that was not what I had asked for. I ordered chocolate cake, with chocolate frosting, with “Happy Birthday CJ” written on it, and a volleyball theme. And I clarified that CJ is a male. Here’s the cake I got. You tell me if it meets my requirements:

Chocolate cake? Check. Chocolate frosting? No. Correct lettering? Yes. Volleyball theme? Yes. For a man? NO! My debate was on whether to go back and complain. I decided not to. I later regretted that decision. Even though they couldn’t have changed it, they could have given us a discount or something. Oh well. It still tasted good.

I have found that in most cases, the choices I am faced with are not matters of right and wrong but rather what is the most right for me at the time. I mean, it’s not like I’m in situations where I have to decide if someone lives or dies. Would either choice in my Shred dilemna this morning have been wrong? No. So all I really had to do was pick one and go.

Another struggle I had today was regarding what to wear to work. This was the classic battle of good (trying to be fashionable and comfortable) vs. evil (the dreaded muffin top). Seemed like no matter what shirt I tried on, it was unflattering. And as more and more shirts landed in the discard pile on the bed, the worse I felt. Oh how I wish I had the type of body that could wear anything and look good. But I don’t. So I had to work with the body I have and what was on hand in my closet. This saga went on for 20 minutes. Samson even got tired of waiting for his treat (that would come after I was dressed) and laid down to snooze. Again, there was no wrong choice here (except for that fitted peach t-shirt I tried on. Eek! It was not pretty…) but for some reason I was paralyzed by analysis paralysis.

This is a term we in the biz use when we’ve gotten to a point of over-analyzing something so much that we are going round in circles and getting way too deep in the mud. I was definitely in that state last week as I had a pretty big decision to make. I won’t get in to the details of it here but it was bigger than a workout or an outfit or a birthday cake. It was a decision that would affect my future and that of my family, and therefore one I did not take lightly. I literally lost sleep over this one. I got to the point where I had analyzed it so much, that I was starting to get all jumbled up and lose sight of what really mattered, and that was my gut feeling.

Listening to my intuition is something I’ve had to practice over the years. In my  younger days, my instinct sometimes got me in trouble because it was broken. As I got older, I’ve fixed and fine-tuned it but sometimes forget to use it.  The choices I had to make this time seemed pretty even on paper (as in my looooong pros/cons list) but when I stopped and did a gut check, the answer was clear.

Lesson to me: remember that not everything is life or death. It’s ok to just make a decision and go with it. If it doesn’t work out, you’ll have learned something to do differently next time. And if it does – well bully for you!

Here’s an easy decision for you – go check out the artwork I posted!!

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