choices.

i am 18 this year.

life has taught me a lot, or rather, force fed me quite a fair bit of lessons.
and one of the things that life taught me is that there is no such thing as not having a choice.
yes, it's true that one's choice can be restricted. but it is impossible to say that one has entirely no choice at all.

choices; they are inevitable. we make them everyday; good ones, bad ones.
as aforementioned, they are inevitable. rarely a day goes by without one making choices. to live a day without making choices is as impossible as chasing the wind. making choices, despite being an activity that we do so often, is something that is, in my opinion, difficult to master.
decision making is an art. good decision making is art, in its highest form. as far as i am concerned, i have made very few good choices and decisions. often, i feel i am bound by fear, faith, duty and my own emotions. these hamper my decisions and my choices and naturally, bad consequences follow soon after. the question then is, "how do we make good choices?".

but before answering the aforementioned question, we must first ask ourselves, "what are good choices and what are bad choices?". is the former merely referring to choices that bring benefit to oneself? or do they refer to choices that bring benefit to others? what then, about bad choices? do they simply mean choices that result bad consequences? i cannot answer these questions, and hence, my dilemma.

i believe that when a person is born into the world, he begins to shoulder responsibilities, both his own and the responsibilities that he shares with others. it is often said that responsibility restricts choice. this, unfortunately is true to a certain extent. because you have to be responsible to others or to a cause, you can only choose choices that are deemed to be "responsible". choices that are deemed otherwise are thrown out the door, simply because there is usually no room for discussion between the individual and parties that the individual is responsible to.

but who is to say that you cannot choose those choices that were thrown out the door?
you can choose these choices. but you must bear the consequences.
as long as you are able to bear the consequences, then you can choose that choice.
you can stand up to oppression. but you must be prepared to face the consequences.
you can fight for what you want. but you must be able to face reality should you fail to get what you want.

so i suppose, choices must be made with courage. because without courage, we fail to choose wisely.

it's all about choice these days.
so go on, make the best of each day.
choose wisely and be prepared for the consequences.
be strong and believe.