Psychology Today suggests that we make about two thousand decisions an hour. Can you imagine if you prayed over every decision during the day. Your prayer life would be Ah-mazing…and you could blame God for any mistakes along the way. Woot! The reality is that we don’t pray about each one of those two thousand decisions. In fact, many of those decisions are subconscious and we don’t even think about them….until we have to.
Isaiah 30:21 promises that whether we turn to the right or the left we’ll hear a voice that tells us which way to go. Can you hear that voice in the midst of the morning hustle in your home? Nope. As Christians, we say our prayers in the morning and then dash off into the busy day making decisions based on our experience, our mood, our desires, or our present circumstance. However, taking a more thoughtful approach to decision-making can help eliminate some of the chaos that keeps us from healthy decision-making. It’s just a cycle of thoughtless movement. A mindless decision leads to chaos. The chaos lends itself to another mindless decision and so on.
Take Baby Steps
Don’t overwhelm your brain with too much intention right away. Some of those smarty parts are a little rusty because you’ve been in reaction mode for so long. Instead, take baby steps. Start with a small mental plan for your day. Here are some examples:
- The decision to be grateful for what you have and not complain about what’s missing.
- The decision to hold your peace even if everyone around you is going bonkers.
- The decision to let go of yesterday’s feelings — happy or sad — and start over.
Take Your Time
The Bible is clear on worrying. Don’t do it. That’s easier said than done. When faced with a hard decision ask yourself if you really need to choose right away. Everything is urgent to someone. Is this decision urgent to you? Try not to make decisions under extreme stress or discomfort…and don’t go to the grocery store hungry.
Decision-making is a hot topic in self-development circles because our lives are made up of a gazillion decisions. For the few big decisions we tend to pray and fast and call in the kingdom troops. For the millions of little decisions that build our character and experience, we tend not to think about them until the consequences become a reality.
Start today. Decide to be more conscious in your decision-making. And remember….baby steps, my friends.
Beautifully said!