Decisions, decisions, decisions

A decision is a decision is a decision. Right?

Wrong! A decision is a whole process in itself and we often mistake an idea or an intention for a decision.

Making a decision is a surprisingly protracted process. It involves something like this:

1. Notice an idea - someone else's idea, or an idea of our own
2. Weigh the idea; is it a good idea? a bad idea?
3. If it's a good idea, is it a practical or impractical idea? [... so far we just have an idea...]
4. If it's a practical idea, consider who might enact it; is this idea something that someone might do, or that I might actually do?
5. Do I want to do it? [... now we have a 'good idea' that I'm interested in...]
6. If I want to do it, is it just a 'good idea' or something I actually intend to do? [... now the idea may become an intention, but it's still not yet a decision...]
7. If I intend to do this, when might I do it: sometime? soon? or now? [... now we may be getting close to a decision, though if the answer to this question is 'sometime' it's still just an intention...]
8. I will do it on Thursday. [... now we have a decision!]
9. I will do it on Thursday, in the time I have before I collect the kids from school. [... and now we have a decision and a plan.]

Of course, not every decision involves all such steps or necessarily in this particular order, but I hope the general process is clear: we move from an idea, to an intention, to a decision, to a plan, and finally to action.

Moreover, we tend in natural speech and thought, to include plenty of 'loopholes' in our (apparent) decisions. For example:

• "I really ought to go and see my parents" is not yet a decision, merely a recognition that I ought to do so.
• "I really must lose some weight" is not yet a decision; saying you 'must' is merely a strong way of saying this is a good idea, but it's not yet a decision.
• "I think I'll get some work done on my project today" is not yet a decision, as it's merely stating that you're thinking about doing some work on the project today.

Now you may think that I'm being terribly picky about such small words, as we all know what these phrases mean. The trouble is, that's true. We all know - including ourselves - that these are the kind of things we say to sound like we're making a decision, when inwardly we know full well that we have no real intention of following through on them!

And yet we still wonder why these 'decisions' don't convert into actions, and probably beat ourselves up for having so little self-discipline. But actually, we had never decided to do any of them in the first place.

So, let's be honest with ourselves. Next time you hear someone - or, more importantly, yourself - use phrases like those above, you might wonder whether what is voiced is just a good idea, or an intention, or whether it is actually an 'I'm-going-to-do-this' decision. They are not the same!

Of course, there are many good ideas around, and we all know that 'the road to hell is paved with good intentions'; it may also have some bearing on why some 'decisions to follow Christ' don't get very far ...