Making decisions consciously

A recent weekend trip that I took out of the city inspired me to write this post.

Have you ever considered silence and what it has to offer?

Our busy schedules are often filled with endless to-do lists. And as we put a check mark to the task/chore accomplished, a new one bumps out the old and takes prominence on the list. For most people this is what we call the routine of life. So much time and energy is spent on the doing and sometimes we may forget to just be still and connect with what is alive in us.  I believe this connection to what is alive in us from moment to moment is crucial not only towards creating balance in our lives, but also towards making conscious choices and decisions.

We are making choices and decisions in every moment of every day. Some of them very simple ones and more routine in nature, whereas other ones are more profound and require us to be present in how we approach them. Decisions like these ask more of us in terms of energy and engagement because of our human tendency to want to cover all the bases. But the truth is stretching for security and certainty in all our decisions is taxing on us and leads to mental fatigue. This space that lies between the choices available to make a decision from and the related burden of certainty we put upon it is what I call the confusion circle – its manifestation being decision-paralysis by over analysis. Again, a polarized view of the choices available to us as “right” or “wrong” also plunges us into that confusion circle.

I’ve always been a silent “mull-er” if I may call it that, when it comes to profound decisions I have to make. Silently mulling away in order to reach”the” one decision that is most in alignment with my needs and personal objectives I want to accomplish. The silent process is derived from the need to stop externally based factors from seeping in to the mix of choices already available. Yes, sometimes too many choices also lead to indecision.

Referring back to my weekend trip, the purpose of which was to take a breath of rest and recalibrate body and mind, I was also able to utilize that space for an important decision I wanted to make. Expecting only the very basic from this three day trip, I was surprised to find how much more it offered in the promise of silence. A three-day silence retreat in which all forms of external input were halted momentarily. No cell phones, no laptops, no reading, and absolutely no talking.

While there are many approaches to making decisions that we all take, I share this approach of silence with you to invite you to try this process of taking “time off” not only to make those profound decisions. But also to listen to yourself and your needs more closely. Perhaps it’s a day or two or even a few hours of solitude with no external input.

Still though, I’m also curious to know, what is your personal process and approach for making important decisions?