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The topic for this month hit very close to home. Decisions. Who makes decisions in our lives? Do we really ever make our own decisions?

Say I had to choose between a dime and ten cents (pennies). If I was leaning towards the dime and someone (say, Matt) gave me a great reason to choose ten cents, if I chose the ten cents, then, did I really make the choice? Because in the end, I could have chosen otherwise. Or did Matt make the choice? because it was his reasons that picked out the results.

“Sometimes wrong, never in doubt”Atul Gawande, New York Times' Best Selling Author

This reminded me of a conversation with my brother regarding my choice of an undergraduate school to transfer to. I wanted a school away from home and he wanted me to rescind my decision. After rounds of brutal “point-proving” on either side, I declared that he was being autocratic as he wouldn’t accept my choices, so he could have his way. He said to me that in life, decisions will always be made, it was however up to me to decide who made them. He could push, shove, convince and encourage me whichever way, ultimately I chose what prevailed.

So in the end, opting to not make a choice, had become a decision and I had chosen it. Daunting! This is what makes the art of decision-making very dicey. When have I made a right decision? When have I made a wrong a decision? When do I know if I have even made a decision?