What big decisions have you had to make recently? What’s your process for determining what the right thing to do is when there are almost an infinite number of factors to making life changing decisions. If faith is a component, is it the sole factor in the decision or do you also add in common sense, advice from friends, family, and strangers on the internet?
© 2026 – SoulSequel
19 responses to “Decisions, decisions!”
Classy.
@Weenis ya never know. One lady I know was called to be a missionary in Thailand. There’s no room for common sense with a decision like that!
@Jear77
Your sentence implies that holding to a religion is contrary to common sense.
@Weenis the question is whether or not the idea moving to a foreign country where you know nothing about the situation, customs, or language should fall under the concept of common sense.
@Jear77
I’m not sure how you’re a writer.
@Weenis could it be other formats where i write I pay more attention to what I’m doing? But this isn’t a professional writing gig. But I fail to see how what I said was either wrong or imprecise.
@Weenis Plagiarism by copy and paste is not and never has been a quality of a good writer…lol
@immortal_pirate I don’t copy paste on a regular basis, unless necessary to get my point across and then I’ll usually edit it at that. The majority of my articles are my original ideas.
Most decisions ultimately come down to an equation between perceived gains and perceived fears: take a chance versus play it safe.
And this is putting a lot of faith in our perceptions which are wrong as often as they are right.
Faith in religion or faith in people (their opinions) may or may not marginally handicapped things in our favor.
Faith in God however is a faith in a process. That is why if someone has no process with God (no fellowship with His Spirit), they have little more than the blind hope of pulling on a slot machine.
In those who risk a process with God according to the standards he’s laid down, tend to find their steps of faith landing on solid (but previously un-seen) ground. And this adds to the process, so the next time there is more confidence and less fear in stepping out where you may not see solid footing to stand on.
Like your friend who went to missions overseas.
@griz but so too can people find themselves on rapidly sinking ground. People who sell everything thinking the end is near. People who give money to televangelists and radio personalities who claim to spread the gospel. People who give money they don’t have to spend to strangers begging for money on the streets. People who get involved in a cult and do strange things, maybe kill themselves and their loved ones.
But it’s interesting you mention risk. I was offered something that risks what I have, for something I had once, but different and more work. It’s not as if i couldn’t… but to me it’s SSDD (same s#!t different day) and more trouble than it’s worth unless certain conditions are met. And the person who offered this didn’t seem to understand my point. If I’m going to give up something what I get in return needs to be MORE than the value of what I give up – not in THEIR eyes, but my own!
@Jear77
The “Spiritual” equation is childishly simple. If you are sinking you did not land on the solid rock.
The process I talked about is learning to differentiate between the voice of your spirit and of God’s Spirit. That is why the first part of the process is learning to silence our ego; even if just for short periods of time.
Religion can’t manage this because it is entirely ego based — us thinking we can understand and leverage God with feats of our mind, our our hands, our logic and reason.
The second part of your reply is about purely material things. But even in this we need to remember that our perceptions are not immaculate!
I thought I had the clearest picture possible of what I was losing and what I was gaining to start this new career. Those perceptions were mostly mistaken. Ignorant. Naive. Showing that even a well-informed grasp on the present, doesn’t mean we can predict the future.
Who can say if that SDDBS job was going to be a stepping stone: just the first door of many to open up?
My previous job started me in one of the most menial positions at the firm. I gave up a lot and did not gain much. But within 3 weeks a very desirable position opened up; and though I was not next in line for it the owner saw the gusto and reliability with which I did the menial job: pulled me out of it; paid to retrain me; and upgraded my accommodation and contract.
You rely too much on thinking you can know and measure and weigh all things ahead of time.
It’s kept you away from opportunities simply because you feel the worth of it has not been proven to you ahead of time.
@griz The offer to change my life is from my old boss/ friend who I don’t trust anymore. He may be LIKABLE but trusting him… that will need to be re-earned as I’ve been burned multiple times. He wants to read my stuff. He doesn’t have time. Yes, I can say he’s begun to pay me recently, but that means nothing at day’s end if I move back there and have to quickly find another job to supplement my income – whatever he’s going to be giving me. I need SOMETHING in place before I can even *attempt* to do what he’s asking. He’s gotten help from an associate to take much of the stress off me, because he knows I simply don’t have the time to answer the phone while I’m at my job at the pet shop.
@Jear77
The life process that is at work in your material/ economic ventures is quite likely the same process at work in your religious ventures.
If you want to hear more from a friend who does not want to hurt you, but will risk it for the sake of your possible healing . . . contact me privately
@griz i’m at work ATM, on break. Afterwards, i will. I found out rhe hard way that if don’t condition myself to turn off my phone at work, i get less than i want done.
The decision to sell my house was volleyed back and forth in my mind. One day I would consider it and the next I would not. Then Immortal Pirate made a verbal commitment to me and we are partners in this Arizona house and in the business he started — building and selling guitars. One day he said that he needed me and that began my plan to think seriously about selling my house. If we are going to be together, then we have to decide where we will be. Arizona was the answer.
There started a series of “Oh oh” situations with my California house. The earthquake fault that branches off of the Whittier Narrows fault runs through the yard and garage. It cracked the garage in two in the quake of 1987 and opened up a crack in the soil of the yard that took two dumptrucks of soil to fill up. I repaired the cracks in the garage in 1988. Now, with Southern California experiencing about 10 earthquakes a day, a crack opened up in the garage floor and walls. Then a crack appeared in the driveway leading to the place where the yard cracked open in 1987. The once cracked place in the yard began to sink. I inspected my house and saw signs of termites. Then a buyer showed up that would buy the house immediately and I could have cash in my hand in just 2 days!!! I called Immortal Pirate and told him. He was excited for me to sell and move to Arizona. I sold the house and moved to Arizona.
The California coast is eroding away and the 101 Hwy. is collapsing along the shoreline. People are moving inland —- far inland. It made sense to move to Arizona. My family is moving to Arizona. Selling my California home just made more and more sense with each day. Then, the Governor “Moonbeam” (yoga pants) Brown has been making so many laws about gun ownership that the right-to-carry state of Arizona seemed so much safer.
I picked up a 2nd job recently, hoping to boost my income after a really tight winter. but there were some scheduling conflicts, so i had to decide which job to keep as my main source and which to go casual. i wasnt intending on that, because this might land me right where i was financially, there are risks either way but i think i made the right decision. it wasnt faith that guided me. it was necessity, experience and location, and job security vs potential i guess. that and mental health… i did for sure talk to a couple of friends about this while i was in the process of deciding. friends in person and one very close friend on line. we talk through things together and the perspectives helped me feel good about my decision. sense and perspective and function are usually my deciding factors…
https://d1alt1wkdk73qo.cloudfront.net/images/guide/2c8db19681f946d68db3f620b42e361a/640×960.jpg
@luftballooneyegouge great photoshop job!
I recently decided to leave my band after 15 years. We were just a local blues band but we’ve enjoyed pretty good success and as much work as we’ve wanted over the years. Being with a group for so long, it’s more like family than mere bandmates. We’ve watched our kids grow up and helped each other through many rough times. How did I know it was time to leave? Little things. I started to notice several things that have always annoyed me about the band and myself within it. Things I could overlook before but began to stick in my craw more and more. There were many signs that indicated that I needed to make a change and I’ve learned that ignoring these signs doesn’t stop change from happening. It just takes the choice out of my hands and fate takes over to make the change that I knew was coming. I’ve found that fate has all the delicacy of a sledgehammer so it’s my job to listen to the signs and listen to my gut and move forward being as true to myself as possible. It hurt to leave the group but at least I was in control so I left on my own terms.