Wrong versus Bad

I hate to see people make wrong decisions. We all make them. You have to make decisions based on the information you have available at the time. Sometimes you don't have enough information, and sometimes information you do have proves to be inaccurate. But we all have to make decisions based on incomplete and inaccurate information ... and choosing to do nothing is still making a decision. Some people get a vision of the future firmly in place, make a decision, and then live or die by the results; other people allow for the inevitability of wrong decisions, and remain flexible about the future. If you lock yourself into an image of the future that just has to come true, I guarantee sooner or later you will be seriously disappointed. The future does not care if it breaks your heart into little pieces.

I don't really care how many times a person makes the right or wrong decision. We all make them, so what's the point of keeping score? The problem is that wrong decisions have all kinds of unpredictable, and often negative, consequences - and not just for ourselves. At least we should all try to make the best decisions we can with the information we have available at the time. Right? If only that were true.

How many times a day do you see people make bad decisions even when they know the inevitable consequences? Money problems, alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, marital problems, poor diet, bad sleeping habits ... When you try to intervene - when you try to help - people become defensive and irritable. They tell you to butt out. I once overheard a friend say, "Watch out, he's always trying to get people to do the right thing", as if it were some kind of warning.

New Year's is coming and now is a good time to think about resolutions. Might I offer a suggestion? "For 2017, be it resolved, I shall refrain from making decisions a reasonable person would believe are not in my best interest. If, after that time, my life is not substantially better, I will return to my previous decision making process." Common sense? Yes. Obvious? Yes. Easy? No. Worth the effort? Let me know.

Come on people, seriously, it's only a year. What have you got to lose? You might even find your life actually improves. Having trouble deciding what a reasonable person would do? Just ask one. Really. Go ask a reasonable disinterested third party what he or she thinks. "Do you think such-and-such is a good or bad idea?" 99% of the time you'll know the answer just by forming the question, but it's helpful to have an outside opinion if you have any doubts.