Choice Paralysis

I am a quick chooser. Some say impulsive, I say decisive. Shopping is fast and expensive if I go to the wrong store. So I go to Good Will. I can snatch up a few good shirts and a great little dress and walk out ten dollars poorer. I can also give that really annoying answer “Oh this? I got it at a thrift store”. I don’t decide on my meal until the waitress walks up to the table and then I just say something. Anything. And I will be happy with it.

However, there are a few things that stop me in my decision-making tracks and turn me into the waffle I can’t stand. Running, airline tickets, and birthday cards are some of them (Also boys and dates but that’s another blog entry for another day).

This choice paralysis happens when I have not gone on a run in 3 to 4 weeks and I am convinced that if I start again, I might cramp up and fall over. So I don’t do it. But I want to. So I pace the house and look for other things to do. Yesterday I said NO to pacing and YES to running like the wind for a whopping 3.3 miles. The wind was very slow yesterday. But the rainbow was perfect.

Airline tickets are perhaps the biggest decision-cramper. Shortly after my summer semester ends, I am flying to Florida to coordinate and celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. I am sure I am not alone in my Kayak-scouring for best price ever. I may, however, be in a more elite group when it comes to limiting my search to a certain plane size, a certain seating arrangement, and you can FORGET turbo-props. This time I have another complicating factor: a BuddyPass. It’s saving me a couple hundred dollars on my return leg but it also means I may stay an extra night in the middle of the country. So I’m choosing my lay-over city very carefully, preferably with kind and hospitable friends living near by. I also always try to hear the voice of God telling me which ticket to buy. No, really, I do.

Finally, birthday cards. There have been a couple of years and a couple of family members or friends that have received the perfect birthday card. It is witty but gentle, beautifully crafted, and with a slight inside joke that makes the whole thing even more perfect. But those rare cards have ruined me. Now I stand in the aisles for an HOUR and drive to multiple stores on a quest for the perfect card for every birthday, for every friend, for every relative.

So, if you are struggling with a choice this week that has nothing to do with the above three topics, please let me know. I am more than happy to help you learn some firm decision-making skills, or how to make a rash choice. And if you have any suggestions for cities to get stuck in, please cast your vote as I will be purchasing the tickets tomorrow…or Saturday …or Sunday.