“When you come to a fork in the road, take it” said Yogi Berra. This is an obvious comment about the need to make a choice. A fork is a split in our path that forces us to choose between those split paths. But, it is vague in helping us actually make that decision. Then again, it also makes us stop and comtemplate what actually needs to be considered in order to make an appropriate decision.
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What do you consider when you come to a fork in the road?
Tags: decisions, yogi berra
Robbie Says:
Well, it is a junction, alowing passage in one of two possible directions. “Which way do I want to go?”, “which way do I need to go?” The Road Less Travelled and Zen And The Art Of Motor Cycle Maintenace. Food for Though.
JT Kalnay Says:
I would like to say I consider the consequences of taking each path and then choose what is best, but to answer accurately and honestly…. nine times out of ten the choice is made from habit, and then only when something goes drastically wrong do I even look back and see that there was a fork. The force of habit is so strong that forks are frequently missed. By trying to live conciously I am now seeing more of the forks, but still admit that most of the choices are still made by habit. One step at a time….
Thomas Beck Says:
At times there is an important moment of pause…collection of information processed on a subconscious level; then commitment and action….
Other times I know where I want to go and the decision is easy.
Sometimes it is the “gut feeling”; more intuitive than considered.
In the past, sometimes I would try to “sit on the fence” and hedge my decisions – that usually didn’t work out for best results, besides pissing people off.
Graphically, there is a crack out near Dairy Queen Wall in Joshua Tree done years ago. It leads up the head-wall about 40 ft. and splits into a symmetrical system of 2 cracks. It’s important to choose the right crack if you want to finish the climb, but you can’t see from the decision point if the left crack blanks out or not. We called it “Get Right or Get Left” double entendre on a born again Christian phrase.
Ian Groll Says:
Hi Arno, Thanks again for all your effort.
I call the fork in the road a ” and now for something completely different” moment. This always happens when I am stalled and every thing I am trying is not working. I say the above statement out loud to first off make myself chuckle as it is the name of a Monty Python movie. This helps break the tension and then I do just that. If the path I was working on was going left then I work on the right side. I try what seemed impossible a moment ago. I always surprise myself when this happens because a hand or foot hold seems to suddenly appear and what was impossible just a few moments before becomes doable. Take the horse blinders off and prepare for something completely different.
Cheers Ian
Kurt Stauder Says:
Arno-
To me, a decision is a gateway to action; a contemplative effort that is either brief or lengthy. I typically think about my intent with my decision making-i.e., what it is I am trying to do and how is it possible? I will tend to start with ‘a go or no go’ approach. If I choose ‘no go’, then I take the appropriate action. If I choose to go forward, I will look for the possible, i.e. “How can I do this?” I also look for more than one option when faced with a decision.
Climbing provides immediate feedback; if I fall when climbing and provided my intent was to climb the route cleanly, I know the way I chose to execute my decision could be done more effectively (sort of the Thomas Edison and the multitude of ways a light bulb will not work) but has no bearing on the decision itself. This last point is an important piece of feedback for me, because now I remind myself that I get to choose another “fork”.
As I write this, I realize that there are big decisions and smaller decisions. I read a quote once-”People who deliberate fully before taking a step will spend their lives on one foot,” which I interpreted in the context of the imbalance of indecision. Sometimes good enough is good enough
arno Says:
Hi Thomas and Ian, Thanks for your comments. That fork is a kind of “pregnant” moment and will “birth” something based on how we make the decision. We’ve gone into the importance of taking time to think and prepare in previous lessons. We’ll also talk more about weighing risks, intention, and making decisions in future lessons.
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Robert Frost’s poem about two paths diverge in the woods… also speaks to the need to choose. Perhaps Frost’s poem lends itself to more visual ideas of what constitutes each path. One is less traveled by, etc. Does this bring anything to mind about what is important when choosing or what could be “birthed” based on the choice?
Arno
Arno Says:
Robbie, Thomas, JT… thanks for your posts. Which way do I go? This points to our motivation, and as JT points out, we can act from habit instead of what is best in the long run. So, what is best in the long run? And, how can that help us make better, more appropriate decisions?
Arno
