These past weeks have become a unique experience for me to observe how people made decision; not to mention that I personally also needed to make those decisions. There are lots of factors to decide what, who, when, where, how – or even to decide the reason why those decisions were made. Each individual would have different backgrounds and experience (or better word – maturity) in weighting the factors they had in decision making process.

Decision making process could be varied, from too many options to seemingly no other option. If too many options, the situation kinda tricky because it paralyses us from making the decision itself. It rhymes by a statement from Barry Schwartz in his book entitled the Paradox of Choice that “Paralysis is a consequence of having too many choices. With so many options to choose from, people find it very difficult to choose at all”. It’s somehow almost similar condition when we have too many options and seemingly no other option.

Anyhow, my concern here is not when the situation offered us lots of opetions, but rather when seemingly no other option. I mentioned “seemingly no other option” simply because I personally see that we actually will still always have a choice to decide – at least, at the end of the day, to decide or not to decide.

Well, the reason why I concern on this is because we tend to use a reason that sounds like it’s the end of everything if we have no other option (and need to take it) – similar like “before the Sun goes down; let’s do this, or let’s buy that, or let’s take them, etc.”. Of course, it’s important for us to consider factors such as time-bounds, operation issue, cost, loss and profits, etc in making decision when it’s seemingly no other option. Nevertheless, having a disastrous outlook when taking the seemingly only option like that could be dangerous.

Why it’s dangerous?

Alright. Even when the Sun went down, the Moon will come with its beauty. When the Sun went down, thousands of Stars show up. When if the Sun went down, most people could take a rest.

Having a disastrous outlook when taking the seemingly only option is indeed dangerous because we took that by limiting ourselves not to acknowledge the possibilities of equal or even better conditions with decision we took when more options were available.

For some people who believe that things happen for reasons (or let say, options come for reasons) might be able to see this situation in a more positive way. Yet those who used to blame conditions, would easily be demotivated because of this kind of situation.

We might not always have many options when we need to make decision. When we do, use that situation in the best possible way. When we do not, avoid having a disastrous outlook in deciding to take that only option; try not to waste energy for thinking, taking, doing, or anything before the Sun goes down. Instead, try to put new thinking hat, that when the Sun went down, it’s not necessarily the end of everything. But, when the Sun went down, beautiful things would actually appear – even the things we couldn’t have when there’s the Sun.

@yosea_kurnianto