Decision time

Studies show that making a decision is really hard, but that the best bit of making a decision is having made a decision. It doesn’t even matter if it’s the wrong decision most of the time. So long as you’ve made it, so long as you’ve stopped second-guessing yourself, you’re in business. You’re decisive. You’re in charge. You’re you.

Decisions need to be made. So here. Make some. This is a public service announcement.

Decide which is better: rain on what surface? Tent? Roof? Rain jacket? Car?

Decide: do birds think “OMG I’M FLYING! WEEEE!” or do they, like humans, who have managed to stand up on two feet and propel themselves into cities and aeroplanes and up mountains and through the sea, think life can be dull and they haven’t achieved anything and why is their nest always a mess?

Decide: why is the moon sometimes surprising?

Decide: if the only people left in the world were the people in your train carriage or your work or your gym class or within a hundred metres of where you are right now: who is your most likely saviour? Is it the quiet, watchful girl by the door? Is it the efficient-looking middle-aged woman in the glasses? Is it you? 

A woman was walking just ahead of me on the footpath the other day. She was heavily pregnant, wearing a floppy sun hat, and carrying a towel. She was saying into her phone calmly but authoritatively that “we need to stress that the release of this report emphasises the economic imperatives of societies paying for housing for the more vulnerable members of our society”. The towel appeared to be a Dora the Explorer towel. On her wrist was one of those stickers off an apple. The next day, a huge report was released about how it costs governments less to pay for accommodation for the homeless and vulnerable. Decide: what was her favourite book as a child? Is it more likely that she collected insects or rode her bike until someone called her inside for dinner? When she gets really tired, what does she watch on TV?

Decide: bare feet on which surface: sand or grass?

Decide: why is confetti? See if you can answer in a way that doesn’t make humans seem really weird.

Decide: if you could win a basquillion dollars on my made-up gameshow called “Battle of the Super Specific Task Heroes” what crack team would you assemble? Who would be the person you would send to find the best, most amazing thing at a bargain price at a garage sale? Who would you send to pack a small car boot for a huge holiday? Who can fix things with a toothpick, a needle, and the elastic from some old undies? What about you? Really good dishes stacker? Calmer-downer of small children? Cat-whisperer? Recasting the people in your life according to a different hierarchy is a crucial reminder that people are awesome - never underestimate a car-boot hero! Never forget when you have a garage sale genius in your life! Celebrate the stacker!

Decide: what’s your favourite sky?

Decide: if the opening ceremony of the Olympics were designed by a person who was selected by international ballot, and you were selected, what theme would you pick?

Decide: what’s your favourite weekend sound?

And finally… I walked past two blokes giggling and cleaning out the boot of a battered old early 80s model car in a suburban street the other day and they yanked out the following and dumped it on the footpath: a giant roll of wrapping paper, a fishing line, a box of records, a few books, and a car battery. I overheard these fragments of conversation: 

“Remember this though!?”

“Dude. Is that tuna?”

“… some kind of casserole dish”

“This is what I told you!”

“Oooh! Bowie!”

Decide: brothers, housemates, boyfriends, mates?

Decide: cleaning the car out for a camping trip, a music festival or because they’re selling it?

Decide: when they drive the car, when it falls silent, are they thinking of things to say or is it -out-the-window-staringly lovely?

Maybe some of these decisions don’t matter so much in the scheme of things, but they are decisions. Make them. Make others. Decide your way to emotional fulfilment! Or don’t. It’s your decision. This has been a public service announcement.

This first appeared in The Big Issue, which is excellent and which you can buy in most cities and support in other ways here.