Guide to making the right decisions

The current global economic situation certainly has left many to wonder how we got to this point. More are now asking when this whole thing turns around. Both valid questions which has many people online and in the main broadcasting media doing their best to explain the answers.

In my opinion, many of the circumstances come down to making certain personal choices. I reflected back to a high school National Honor Society ceremony I attended in the spring of 1984. The keynote speaker came from an armed forces academy. He talked about choices he made that unfortunately prevented him from graduating with his class. What resonated most was how he described the choice he made while in the academy. He decided to make the "easier" wrong choice instead of the "harder" right choice.

When we stop to digest this concept, it starts to explain why we find ourselves in the various stages of success or failures in life or business. Let us think about some of those "easier" wrongs in life. Say you are running late one afternoon and find yourself stuck on a busy Los Angeles freeway. You see the tempting HOV lane to your left and decide to take it because it is moving much faster and no police lurking. Eventually, you are well on your way to your destination when suddenly, you see the familiar flashing lights of the highway patrol in your rear view mirror. You are promptly pulled over and issued a traffic ticket. Easier wrong vs. Harder right.

Credit cards have been an enticing "easier" wrong for the past few decades. Sure, we can purchase that 52" flat screen for the family room today. We have all the intentions to pay it off when the bill comes due at the end of the month. Unexpected expenses in other areas of your life inevitably make it difficult to fulfill this plan. No worries, as you will certainly take care of this bill the following month. Unknowingly, we have now entered the proverbial circular cage more affectionately known as the rat race. Our trusted credit card company is helping to lubricate that cage with a healthy dose of high interest rates and late fees. You see, these things never start big but eventually become gargantuan. Easier wrong vs. Harder right.

We should practice some humility in life. If we are running late to a function, acknowledge and accept that fact. Make that possible difficult phone call, after you have pull off the freeway, to advise your expecting party that you are running late. We can learn to practice the art of delayed gratification with consumer products. Perhaps putting that TV on a lay-away-plan or simply saving until you have enough to pay for it by cash. That is how most of our parents handled their finances. These may seem like "harder" right choices until we become comfortable with the discipline this will create for us.

As we continue to witness various sectors of businesses receiving or applying for bailouts, think about the choices, they made to reach the point of asking for government assistance. If I were a betting man, I am sure the majority were due to "easier" wrong choices that were made.

Let us become accountable for our decisions and not blame or depend on others to be our saviors. God gave us a brain that is fully capable to learn and grow to meet the new challenges that life sends our way. Your attitudes lead to the decisions that you make in life. Will those future decisions be "easier" wrongs or "harder" right ones? Like it or not, you control that decision each day.