We all make decisions every single day. From deciding to get out of bed after that third alarm goes off to choosing whether or not that doughnut is really worth the calories and sugar that will screw up your diet, decisions are an important part of everyone’s daily routine.
When I sat down to watch restart Psych on Netflix for the 3rd time, I was given a suggestion of a movie I might enjoy called Before We Go. I had remembered seeing it once before when it first came out on AppleTV. It was the directing debut of one of my favorite actors, Chris Evans. Evans was also one of the stars along with Alice Eve from Star Trek Into Darkness and She’s Out of My League. The movie follows the story of a chance meeting between the two strangers in Grand Central Station on a winter’s night in New York. We follow the pair as they are marooned in Manhattan for the night. They become each other’s trusted confidants through a night of adventures that makes them confront their fears and get grip on their lives. It’s worth a watch if you’re trying to fill a showhole or just surfing Netflix.
Getting back on subject, there is scene midway through the film where Evan’s character Nick Vaughan struggles with making a decision on whether or not to go after a long lost lover from his past. He says to Eve’s Brooke Dalton “Why is it that any one decision always seems too small to be the biggest decision of your life?”
For the next few days, I thought about that quote non-stop. At first, I didn’t understand it. You know, you make decisions every day of your life and we really don’t think twice about most of them. We just make our choice and live with the outcomes. However, the more I thought about it the more I realized, I’ve made decisions that, at the time, seemed so small but have made huge impacts in my life. Whether it was my choice to play football in high school or my choice in university after my high school years ended, I’ve made those decisions and they have put me on the path I’m on now. I made the decision to think about that question before making a decisions that could turn into something bigger than a single moment. Of course, as my Dad would say “Man plans, God Laughs.” Life happens and things you plan on doing sometimes fall by the way-side.
As fate would have it though, that quote returned to the forefront of my mind a few days ago as I stared at my computer contemplating the purchase of a plane ticket. I had all my information in the system leaving me with only one click to set my plan in motion. One decision that seemed too small to be the biggest decision of my life.
It took me a lot longer than I thought it would to click that button. Maybe it was fear, maybe it was lack of guts, maybe it was the endless possibilities that this decision could create. I don’t really know but the reason I clicked submit was the response that Dalton gives to Vaughan following his decisions inquiry. “I don’t know but sometimes you just have to make the choice and jump.”
So I did. The fruits of this labor won’t be shown for a little while but those emotions of fear that almost stopped me from not making the choice don’t exist anymore. Maybe this trip will give me everything I want or maybe it won’t. It’ll be an adventure though. There will be stories to tell and articles to be written about it, I promise.
Any one decision may seem too small to be the biggest decision of your life but that doesn’t mean to take those decisions for granted. Think about the choices you make. Think about the outcomes. Think about the possibilities but don’t let the endless possibilities control your decisions. Make the choice. Take the leap.
“He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in his life.”
