Would You Rather?

I always hear about these people who have some revelation about life and how they go about living it, and then change their ways completely. Most people like to call this revelation, prison, but for those of us who haven’t been there and still have this change of heart or whatever you want to call it, why does it happen?

Within the past 48 hours, I feel like I had one of those moments happen to me. We’re talking about something that’s happened before, more than once, and it just sorta hit me. It was along the lines of, “What in the hell am I doing and why haven’t I thought about this before?” It’s like putting yourself on auto pilot and just thinking, yeah yeah…no big deal, not like this is some life changing moment or anything. But then the more I think about it, I come to another question. A lot of these moments involved other people,so when do you draw the line between what is the best scenario for yourself and what’s best for everyone else? And which do you usually choose?

Going off to college has taught me a lot (including how to do my own laundry). You have to interact with all these different people day in and day out, you’re basically in your own “town” with all the dorms and what not going on around you. You’ll meet new friends, you’ll find out more about yourself and you’ll make decisions that could alter your life. We’ve all been there at one point or another, and of course there are those regrettable moments but hey…it happens. But that whole scenario thing comes into question yet again. Are you doing what is best for only you? Or best for everyone else? Now a lot of this can go off personality, yeah of course, but what really constitutes selfishness from self well-being?

Now I know this all seems like I’m asking question after question here, but it’s definitely something that should be in play although we don’t always tend to think about those kinds of things before we make our actions. Nine times out of ten we would all rather act/do act on impulse without reviewing the ups and downs of what could really end up happening in the long run. Then come along these revelations that all of a sudden make you realize you were stupid or did the wrong thing. It is things like this that drive me insane…absolutely insane. For anyone who knows me especially, I will act on emotion over logic 99% of the time for most things. My mood will swing what I decide on and what I end up doing overall…nonetheless possibly hindering other people’s lives in some way or perhaps benefiting them. Not a feeling anyone should really enjoy and it’s especially one that I don’t.

I do understand that much of the time, we don’t have this time to rethink things and we have to act quickly which leads to a more habitual decision. We’re all more comfortable with something we previously know about rather than the unknown. Or even when someone’s life is in your hands…

I think one of the best examples of something like this is medical care. I could honestly not tell you how much it amazes me that surgeons and other hospital staff are given hundreds if not thousands of lives to help heal every week. But not only through the doctors but the families of the patients themselves, if not the patient there are so many decisions that can send shockwaves through this entire group as a whole. Sometimes it’s not even the medical problem; for all you know it could be financial problems or even how your own home life can alter many things. What is best for the parties involved? What happens if an alternate route is taken? In many ways, we are all our own doctors having to go through all these kinds of decisions affecting other people’s lives. The CEOs of major companies hold the fates of thousands upon millions of employees and when it comes down to it, will they make the benefits to best himself or everyone else involved? A mother’s child has an event going on tomorrow night, but she has found extra hours to work when money is tight and they just happen to be the same time as her child’s event. What does she do? Bypass the event and go to work leaving the kid upset that no one was there? Or go to the event knowing that she had lost out on extra money to help her family? Ultimately, it’s a game of “would you rather?”

Like I said before, anything could be in play as far as decisions like this are concerned, but almost always are emotions at the core, the thing that can guide your final decision. Nothing like this comes easy once you think about it. Just look back at the most simple of decisions where someone else was involved…was the outcome good or bad? Did it help benefit everyone involved? Just you? The other person(s)?

Although I may never be able to understand the exact line between selfishness and self well-being, it’s an ongoing process. Slowly we all learn to work at these kinds of things, but only if we really want to. I know I want the best I can get for myself, but I know I would want the same for anyone else out there. This is the case with so many people, but everyone has a difficult time showing it on a 24/7 basis which sucks. But hey…we’re human; creatures of impulse and at times…downright stupid (including myself).

I hope that the days come easy and the moments pass slow,
And each road leads you where you want to go,
And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.
And if one door opens to another door closed,
I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile,

But more than anything, more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

I hope you never look back, but ya never forget,
All the ones who love you, in the place you left,
I hope you always forgive, and you never regret,
And you help somebody every chance you get,
Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,
And you always give more than you take.

But more than anything, yeah, and more than anything,
My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,
Your dreams stay big, and your worries stay small,
You never need to carry more than you can hold,
And while you're out there getting where you're getting to,
I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,
Yeah, this, is my wish.

This is my wish
I hope you know somebody loves you
May all your dreams stay big