Monday, July 23, 2007

Choices

I apologise for the stark vagueness of this post. I hope that the generalisation, however, makes it easy for the reader to relate to.

I have the choice today. Its entirely in my hands. Yet I am unsure what course to take. In the interest of, well, myself, I attempt to explain without going into the details. I step up the abstraction just a notch.

Choice 1 : Unwanted at the moment. Atleast this is not how I imagined myself years ago, not how I hoped things to be. Yet I cannot evade the possibility that this might someday be my only choice left. And it might not be a bad choice.

Choice 2: There is the familiar, there is the thing I've wanted all along. I have it today, only I'm not sure I want it anymore. I think I have outgrown the long-coveted.

Choice 3: The attraction of the unfamiliar, the novelty of the unexplored. Could it be my best choice? I will not know till I go there.

One of these three? Or find a fourth?

7 comments:

The Mad Hatter said...

Interesting.

How long did it take you to outgrow the "long-coveted" once you {achieved, got, realized, stumbled upon} it? That may have something to do with the answer.

Rach said...

Good point. The order of events would be outgrowing first, and achieving after. That doesn't help, does it?

The Mad Hatter said...

It does, actually.

Hmmm let's see. The Hatter senses that you've already moved in the direction of choice 3 (unfamiliar).

If you have, don't bother rationalizing, go for it.

Rach said...

why do you sense the direction of choice 3? and according to your own views especially, shouldn't i rationalise?

The Mad Hatter said...

Why did I think you're leaning towards option 3? The language you used to describe the options seems to point that way.

Rationalization is an a posteriori activity - finding 'reasons' for what you've already decided to do, and perhaps gone part-way towards doing. I wouldn't recommend that.

A true Stoic (I'm only a wannabe, and quite pathetic at it) in this situation would dispassionately ponder the roots of his/her emotional preference for one choice and attempt to analyze them.

Of course, if I'm mistaken, all that was merely wasted electrons.

Suprita said...

Hmh.. If only we had time, patience and everything else that is required to go about it the trial and error way.

Anonymous said...

what if the "long coveted " is not the same as you knew it last and has also changed, favorably... ?