Making
Decisions
The more complicated and complex our lives and world become,
the harder it seems to be to make decisions. The demands that
are placed upon us, along with the expectation to multi-task
actually make it difficult for us to come to a place of clarity.
You may find yourself having to hold several thoughts in your
mind at once making it feel like your mind is as mixed up as
a boiling stew. It may seem impossible to bring your mind to
a place of stillness long enough to see things clearly and deeply.
You may find that you question the decisions that you make or
that you are unable to make decisions at all.
Two
things may be of help. First, try to sort out for yourself
which decisions are really important. For
example, struggling
about what to have for breakfast or what pair of pants to buy
may not matter all that much, so don’t spend a lot of unnecessary
energy on these. Other decisions, however—like who to marry,
what career path to follow, where to live, what to give your
heart and passion to—are decisions that require time,
silence, solitude, and prayer. Give these kinds of decisions
your best effort—your most keen attention. You may still
make a faulty decision, but the Holy One can still bring grace
out of an imperfect decision! If you do the best you can, God
will take care of what you can’t. So relax!
The second thing that is critical to make clear
and good decisions is claiming the time and space for silence,
solitude, and prayer
so that clarity can come. If you make this a habit in your daily
life, it will be natural to bring yourself into that holy space
when you need to make an important decision. You will find it
much easier to let go of all the competing worldly demands in
order to focus on the decision at hand. Taking a few minutes
a day by yourself in complete silence (even when you have no
decision to make) will help you become comfortable and familiar
with stillness.
Over
time, this will become a place of peace for you—a place where things that are unclear can become
clear. God is always ready to meet you in that place—because
it is a place that holds your soul. Look for God there, and when
you do have an important decision to make, lay it before God
in that silent place and wait for clarity to come to your mind
and soul.
To
try: Take 10 minutes of silence each day for a week
and at the end of the week, note in a journal how the exercise
helped
or hindered you.
Scripture
for reflection: “Be still and know that I am
God.” Psalm 46:10a
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