Decisions, Decisions

In the last few days, weeks, months, there have been quite a few tricky decisions needing to be made. Thankfully not just by me, but by some of my closest family and friends. "Tricky" is a nice way of saying Oh-My-God-What-Should-I-Do!!!??? Most of the decisions have been made, at least for now. Now we're all at the point when we just sit back and wait to see how it all unfolds. We'll call this period the unfolding part. This part can be just as tricky as the part when you have to actually make the decision, but it's also kind of exciting.

For the last several years, my parents have talked about moving. On Monday, they finally are. This was a tough decision because they live in a great house where we have all shared a million memories. They aren't moving because of a job change or anything like that, but they just feel like it's time to do something different. I think that just wanting to do something different can be one of the harder decisions to make, mainly because other people just don't get it. Their new house is super nice and in a great neighborhood. They can get to Target in 3 minutes flat, which is really different than the 30-minute drive it has always taken. I know it's silly that Target is what I mention in a post about my parents moving to a new house, but my sister and I have created a sort of tradition of going to Target and for coffee on weekend nights whenever we are both home, so it matters. I'm trying to figure out whether or not I'm sad that they are moving out of a house that I grew up in. Tons of stuff happened in that house, and if I stop and mull over it, I would probably get all nostalgic and sad. I'm choosing not to do that though, and instead I'm really excited about all of the stuff that will happen in this new house.

One of my best pals had to make a decision about moving across the country recently. I'm not sad at all about this one because she's going to be our new roomie, but I'm sure that deciding to move away from home has been more than tricky for her. But it also has the potential to be a huge, life-changing adventure which probably outweighs the trickiness, though it's still scary. I just read this post recently about moving across the country. Even if it was a scary decision to make, it will most likely turn into something exciting.

And then there are the decisions I've been making that include all kinds of things like whether or not to apply for different jobs (and not getting them even when I do), what kind of timeline to map out for my dissertation study and writing, what to cook for dinner (ha!), and a couple of other things that are actually unbelievably tricky. For me, making decisions is a process that involves a long period of freaking out about what to do. The most ridiculous part of this process is that from the very beginning, I know the decision that I'll make in the end. However, I still have to go through the motions of freaking out, making lists, asking people their opinions, freaking out some more, calling my mom, calling my sister, driving Will crazy, talking to strangers, crying in front of people I didn't expect to cry in front of, and then, miraculously, I accept the fact that I made a decision already, months earlier. Really, the only thing this doesn't apply to is what to cook for dinner. That's not such a process, though maybe if it were I'd weigh less, which would be neat.

Here's my lesson about making decisions that are tricky and life-changing: Most likely, you already know what you want to do, which is also most likely the right thing to do or you wouldn't be wanting to do it in the first place. Hmmm, not sure that makes sense. Let me try again: Trust yourself.

And here's the thing about taking risks: If the risk is to do something different, even if it does change your life forever and isn't the most predictable or expected thing you could do, do it anyway. Because really, what's the worst that can happen? You have fun, you learn something, and you have a whole new story to tell.