Choices

What would life be like without choices? Although I've heard so many friends and acquaintances lament the multitude of choices they must make each day, praying for some time to just drift, accepting what comes along without decisions, I have to wonder how long they could live with no choices, no decisions, and no responsibilities . It seems the hard part about making choices is not the act of choosing, but the knowledge that one accepts responsibility for the consequences of that choice. I remember the adolescent right of passage involving solving that most terrible inner dialog:

If I take A, then I cannot have B.
And yet, I am responsible to me,
So therefore, should I choose A over B?
But if I choose B, A is lost to me.
I don't want that responsibility;
And yet, I don't want you to choose for me!

Viktor Frankl once said: "I recommend that the Statue of Liberty be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the west coast." He understood that freedom and responsibility are opposite sides of the same coin -- for one to exist without the other puts the universe out of balance, and drives parents absolutely crazy!

Mick

Choices

It seems the distant crossroads heckle me,
As soon as I but step outside my door;
Though decisions await, I cannot see,
Their siren summons beckons all the more.
As wave on wave, the silent calls invite
The wanderer who lurks within my shell,
The crossroads lie in wait with still delight,
Anticipating one they know so well.
They wait because they know I hear their voice:
The silent, whispered summons that they sent.
They wait for me, to come and make a choice,
To choose among the options they present.
For without choices, life is but a trail,
Which leads us through a long and narrow jail.

Mick McKellar
January 2010