We all have them. They are always unexpected. They cannot easily be planned for. They do not sneak up on you and leap into your life to bite your butt. They just appear quietly. They do not seem all that important at that time. It is like adopting a kitten. So little, soft and cuddly, and it purrs! And your life is forever different. Different from what it might have been. What are they? The moments when you make literally life changing decisions. You cannot specifically train yourself for them. You can generally train yourself for them. You do this by having very clear, well thought out, goals. You do this by having the determination to stick to your original goals. The only rule that applies is: Be Prepared. Prepared for anything that comes down the pike. Prepared for the arrival of such decision times. These moments, these places where you must make a decision, are called cusps, Cusp, like the point of a tooth. Your life is in the balance. The point where life’s paths diverge. It is the little decisions that make much of the differences in our lives. The little missed opportunities. The fear of missing such an opportunity clouds the issue. The fear of the opportunity to have some fun. The fear of the opportunity to have some adventure. The fear of the opportunity to experience risk. People are usually good at making the big choices: college, spouse (a high degree of difficulty), job, a change of location. It is the little parallel, or side by side, decisions that make the difference here. It is here, that the failure to carefully examine the side issues that encircle major decisions, where little decisions change everything. Do you choose “A”, or “B”? If it is “A”, what about 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7 ? If it is “B”, what about a, b, c, d, e, f, g ? You are walking home from school. A car pulls up beside you driven by someone you know reasonably well as a person. You don’t know anything about his driving skills or driving record. He offers you a ride home. Your feet hurt. Do you get in the car? Cusp time. “A”, or “B” ? If you get in the car, what are your chances of getting home safely? You are betting all of the rest of your life ! How long does it take to make such a dangerous, very high risk decision wager? This driver might very well be a good and safe driver. He could also be one whose personality changes when he has someone to “show off” for, or someone he wants to impress in some way. Is this a “macho” thing? Is some version of testosterone decision making getting in the way of a safe decision? How do you prepare for such a cusp? Plan ahead for it. Know in advance what your answer is going to be. Be prepared to say , “No, thanks. I’m in training. I have to walk.” In this example of a cusp, and nearly all others, human beings are social animals. The main course of study that the human animal has is the study of other humans. The class starts at birth. The first lesson is learning how to manipulate our environment to get what we think we need. This usually means manipulating another human being to change our environment for us. Either we cannot do it (lack the ability) ourselves, or it is easier to convince someone else to do it for us ( lazy). Babies learn to manipulate their mothers to change their baby’s diapers and to feed their infant. Mothers eventually train babies not to need diapers because they don’t want that job for longer than necessary. Mothers even eventually learn to train fathers not to be babies. It is all a part of the social context of our species. During my last week of college, having attended “job fair” interviews previously, I had two quite different employment contracts from which to choose. By making a decision at that time, by accepting one, I would not have to endure a summer of job searching. I had other plans for my summer. (Not one of which actually happened.) I chose the contract that paid $100 per school year more. Ten dollars a month. Two years later, my boss was going to go out on another trip seeking new employees. He, a colleague, and I (both of us were bachelors) were discussing something or other. Out of the blue my boss asked us jocularly, “What kind of gals can I find for you guys?” As fast as a stroke of summer lightning, my mouth said, “Five foot four, blond, one hundred twenty pounds, curves and a good worker.” He said , “OK.” He found her. The following March, I married her. We have been married for 39 years. Sometimes you do get what you ask for. There was a cusp. My life path took a new direction. These examples are exactly the kind of little “cusps”, the little decisions that change our lives. Be prepared for your little “cusps”. Be prepared for your life path to be changed. Be prepared to change your life.
(c) Copyright 2006: George Wallace completed an MA and taught in the public schools for 28 years. He recently published a book on religion which lashes out at nearly all of the comfortable ideas about God, the trappings of organized religion, the layers of money sucking priesthood, and their departures from the fundamental ideas and messages of Religion. His pithy comments and suggestions for a return to a God-centered personal religion will outrage everyone. www.OhGodIsThatYou.com
Article Source: http://www.writerspenarticledirectory.com
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