Making Good Choices

It's easy to look around at your problems and have no idea where they came from. Sometimes, they are a result of the choices that we make. But how do we practice making good choices, and how do we teach each other to do the same?

Other than respecting the laws of society, exercising sound judgment is less about choosing between wrong and right and more about seeing the starting point, our circumstances, as neutral. Each choice is a path to a different set of consequences and results.

Start by getting to know yourself. Look at your weaknesses and your strengths. What is it that you need? What choice will help you untangle your knots? Good judgment takes into account what is good for the whole and includes yourself in the equation. Leaving yourself out only makes more for you to go back and clean up later.

Good judgment also takes into account timing. If it is the right choice at the wrong time, it may not indeed be the right choice. So take it all into consideration. And if you find yourself feeling like you did not make the right choice, start by accepting the choice you made and the circumstances that led to your making it. Then pause, step back and say, "I will learn to do things another way," and fall back on your creativity to find your next choice.

Exploring this process might be helpful as you teach your children to make their own best choices "in the moment." Know that the answers are always available to you as well as to them.