“Life is change”: for the most time I understood this saying like this: change is an inevitable part of life. Basically in accordance with Heraclitus’ quote:
“Change is the only constant in life.”
So changes happen, no matter if we like it or not. Sort of a stoic approach.1
But lately, I realized that this saying might be approached from a different angle – that to live is to make changes – to take initiative, to be an actor in the world and not a passive observer.
So, it is more of an existentialist approach2, assuming we have free will and know what we want, which is not as clear as it might seem at first glance.
And making changes means first and foremost making decisions and choosing from different options.
We create ourselves by our choices. —Søren Kierkegaard
Honestly, making decisions and changes is something I sometimes struggle with. And I suppose I am not the only one. Because deciding means taking responsibility. And taking responsibility is always a burden – unless you are some kind of psychopath.
This means foreseeing all (or at least most) possible outcomes, creating a considerable mental load. Therefore decision fatigue and analysis paralysis is a real thing – as we can make only so many good decisions per day.
This story told by Alan Watts illustrates it perfectly:
A farmer hires a farmhand who excels at hard work, quickly setting fence posts and harvesting corn faster than anyone else. Impressed, the farmer assigns him the task of sorting potatoes by quality. However, by the end of the day, the farmhand quits. When the farmer asks why, the farmhand replies, “Well, the fence posts and the corn were all well and good, but these potatoes, I can’t take it… it’s just decision after decision after decision!”
There is no shortcut in learning this, everyone needs to learn this by himself. Decision-making is a huge part of practical wisdom – and as any wisdom, it comes mainly with experience, not necessarily with intelligence. As it has been scientifically proven (by Daniel Kahneman among others), most of our decisions are based on emotions. We only rationalize them afterward. So the first step might be to stay in control of our emotions.
This complex aggregate of emotions leading us to decisions is something we can call intuition. I believe one can train it and develop it with experience – it becomes the proverbial gut feeling. Then it is possible to make decisions that are a bit more sustainable and “correct” than those dictated by pure instincts, like fear or greed.
It is important to remember, that even by not deciding, we are making a decision. So as they (supposedly) say in the army: It is always better to make a wrong decision than no decision at all. Because at the very least, you are the one who keeps the initiative.
Go and open the door.
Maybe outside there’s
a tree, or a wood,
a garden,
or a magic city.
Go and open the door.
Maybe a dog’s rummaging.
Maybe you’ll see a face,
or an eye,
or the picture
of a picture.
Go and open the door.
If there’s a fog
it will clear.
Go and open the door.
Even if there’s only
the darkness ticking,
even if there’s only
the hollow wind,
even if
nothing
is there,
go and open the door.
At least
there’ll be
a draught.
– Door by Miroslav Holub