Choices

“Your choices can change your life. Choose wisely.” – Peggy Paarmann

We make around 30,000 choices a day.  About 2,000 an hour. That isn’t a typo.

Every choice we make defines us and who we are. Small ones, like what to eat for breakfast, or big ones like changing jobs or buying a car.  When you make thoughtful choices, the outcome is usually positive.

Snap decisions can take it in the opposite direction, and not in a good way.

Up to 60% of survivors experience poor concentration, memory loss, and cognitive challenges. Many are short-term, but some stay with a survivor for years. Decision-making abilities are a big part of that. Eight years later there are still times I deal with it.

When I got home from the hospital, I was forced to make a lot of choices in a short period of time. I wish there had been someone there to talk me out of some of them.  

This was a big one: I chose to drive a car just a few hours after being in the ICU. I went out to my car, got in, took a few deep breaths, and started the car. Fortunately, I looked behind me and saw that the garage door was not all the way up.

That would have been a disaster.

I only drove about 2 miles to see my dad in assisted living, but I was in a cold sweat the entire time.  In hindsight, I could, no, SHOULD have asked a friend to take me or called an Uber.  

Learning that choices you make could seriously injure you or someone else is an eye-opener.

A few weeks later, I went on a road trip to Central Oregon. Except this time, my cousin went with me. We stopped for rest breaks, and if I’d needed her to, she could have driven. Smart choices.

I could have just stayed home, left the car in the garage, and watched daytime TV.

But I didn’t. I got up, went out, and had fun. 

Great choice.