Choose your own adventure
Are you the author or the reader?
I’d always thought of the Big Moment of Decision as being the moment when I took action.
I find myself at a turning point. I assess my options. I make my choice. I take action.
In the choose your own adventure novel of my life, the moment that counts is when I turn the page.
If you enter the cave, turn to page 7
If you climb up the ladder next to the cave entrance, turn to page 15
If you continue on the path, turn to page 23
The other day, after turning a misunderstanding into a dramatic scene, I realized I was overlooking the real Big Moment of Decision.
What matters is how I interpret the situation. There are always several ways to explain the same situation, depending on what I’ve noticed and what I find most important. Each of those potential scenarios, even if only slightly different, comes with different options. It’s how I tell the story that determines the options. The framing determines if this is even a turning point at all.
Carrying out one the options is not the Big Moment of Decision after all. The real moment of decision was passing unnoticed and unquestioned.
I’m not just the reader of this adventure story. I’m also the writer. I’m the one describing each scenario. I’m the one figuring out what options I have. I’m the one making the choices and turning the page to see what happens next. It’s time to worry less about which option to pick and instead pay more attention to the way I write each scene.
On July 27th the Interfaith Disability Advocacy Coalition is going to be discussing the role of economic security in fulfilling the vision of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
What activities are worth your time?
Learning to accept the uncertainty of every day
On the limits of ‘clinically tested’ treatments: “For decades, clinical trials have tended to exclude older participants for reasons that range from concerns about pre-existing conditions and other medications to participants’ ability to travel to trial locations. As a result, clinicians have little way of being certain that approved cancer drugs will work as predicted in clinical trials for the people most likely to have cancer.”
On the hazy expectations of friendship: “This nebulousness is precisely what makes friendship so enchanting—and exasperating. We find ourselves depending on people who didn’t know they were being depended upon. And because friendships are voluntary and fluid, “you may ultimately doom the relationship by calling somebody out on their failures,” Hall said.”
Profound insight Cori. Thank you.