Forks in the Road

I love this picture. It makes me laugh hysterically. It also gives a new meaning to the title of today's post.

Choices are everywhere in our lives. Do I really want to wake up? Should I shave? What should I wear? How badly do I want to do my homework right now? The list goes on and on. Some choices we make are of little consequence. Others make a whole lot of difference in the long run. We can't avoid choice. It attacks us even at the grocery store.

Sometimes, our choices are like forks in the road. I can make the choice to wake up on time or not. Two different forks; either one will take me in opposite directions. When we come to these, we often don't know which one to take. Both seem appealing and/or right. We are like Alice in Wonderland. We don't know where we're going. Every once in a while we get some helpful advice like that given to Alice by the Cheshire Cat, "If you do not know where you want to go, it does not matter which path you take." 

What we choose has implications in our lives. Thomas S. Monson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave a talk entitled, "The Three R's of Choice," in which he laid out three aspects of choice: Right, Responsibility, and Results. We will, President Monson says, always have the right of choice. We are never limited in that aspect. We are not, however free from the results of consequences of choice.

Sometimes, the choices we make are stupid, we know that going into them, and we make the choice anyway. We don't make a whole lot of sense sometimes. In times like these, decisions become like the picture -- literal blocks in the road. Our choices can obstruct our path and halt our progress. Giant roadblocks. 

It's in times like these when I find myself frustrated and rent with indecision. I find myself wondering why I make such decisions; I beat myself over the head for those decisions, and then I make the same one a few days later.

Sometimes the choices we make in life don't make sense to others. My career path baffles much of my extended family. Some choices sadden those who love us the most. It is especially painful to be the observer to such choices. We all have the ability to choose, but not the ability to choose the results.