Decisions

 Did you ever have to make up your mind, goes the verse of a song by the Lovin’ Spoonful from their album, “Do you believe in Magic?” The song goes on

Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Pick up on one and leave the other one behind

It's not often easy, and not often kind

Did you ever have to make up your mind?

Choice is not easy and saying yes to one means saying no to another, and that is why we, as people do not like making choices. I read somewhere that deciding is stressful for most humans. That is perhaps why we sometimes procrastinate because our thinking is such that if we delay long enough, we will not have to decide, a decision will be made for us. I think it is another reason why we look to strong leaders; they allow us to abdicate making any decisions, we can just do what we are told, which makes life so much easier.

The song ends

Then you bet you'd better finally decide!

And say yes to one and let the other one ride

There's so many changes, and tears you must hide

Did you ever have to finally decide?

Tears you must hide. This line speaks to how hard it is to decide and the realization that there are consequences for your decision. The song speaks to a lover having to decide between two loves, but all decisions we make, have consequences and all of them involve saying yes to something and no to something else. I love that poets and songwriters can use words that speak to powerful subjects in a way that makes it simple to understand.