Spur of the moment

“Not all decisions are meant to be planned.”

Instinct.

Every spur of the moment decision you make is pure instinct.

You have been conditioned for years to be able to make these decisions. Typically, every decision is based on risk or reward.

If there is risk associated, you avoid it.

If there is reward associated, you pursue it.

The mind is a much simpler creature than you think. You run into problems such as stress, anxiety, depression, and unhappiness when you try to make these simple decisions harder than they need to be.

I get so stressed out when something goes outside my expectations. This is my tragic flaw.

Last night, I was given the opportunity to go to a concert, which is not at all what I had planned for the night. Because of how I have trained my mind, my instinct was to say no because that is not what I had expected to do last night, but instead I pondered it.

I laid out the risks and rewards in my head. Then I factored in this little thing we call regret.

I have talked about regret numerous times and the biggest takeaway from regret is:

YOU REGRET NOT DOING MUCH MORE THAN YOU REGRET DOING.

Instead of regretting not saying yes and making my Sunday night just like any other Sunday night, I said let’s do it.

By becoming aware of the way my brain has been programmed, I am able to make decisions based on more than just instinct.

I account for:

Regret

Memories

Happiness

Self-growth

Self-Exploration

Leaving my comfort zone

If you leave it up to your brain to make the decision, you will do what you are programmed to do 100% of the time.

This is great if you are a robot.

But people like people, not robots.

You may be the most efficient person in the world if you are a robot, but as soon as you become one, you lose any sense of personality and character you had.

You could be the most successful person in the world, but what is being successful if you don’t have the memories and the friends to enjoy your successes with?

Once again, it all comes down to balance.

“Balance is not something you find, it’s something you create.”

I have realized over years of doing the same thing over and over again that life is much more than just pursuing what’s at the top. It’s about the whole journey of getting there.

This theme continues to echo through the corridors of my mind the more I write.

Every time I wonder why I am stressed, or worried, or anxious, this is the solution that I come to.

EVERYONE HAS IT WRONG.

Life isn’t just a journey to the end. A journey makes it sound like the destination is the most important thing. Life is an exploration. The destination isn’t the reward, the things you learn along the way are.

It’s never a straight path either. I have fallen of course, got lost, and tore my knees up so many times along the way.

But I refuse to quit. I refuse to quit learning, to quit growing, to quit exploring my thoughts and emotions.

By continuing to share, I am more aware.

Awareness is what allowed me to change an instinctual decision to a thought-out, calculated decision and I don’t regret it one bit:)

***

Thank you for reading!

My goal is to inspire self-improvement in others through my personal stories and experiences.

This is The Exploration.