There once was a hungry ass that had to decide to which of the two grass heaps to walk towards. He wanted to make the most intelligent decision. He first considered the distance of the grass heaps from him, then their size, and finally their quality. After careful analysis, all three attributes were equally good. Being the ass he was, he could not decide on which grass heap to walk to, hence he continued plodding on his journey.
The story reminded me of how I have placed many of my real wants/needs on hold, simply because I can’t decide which path is the best way to go. I know I am not alone in my inability to pick between two somewhat equal alternatives. For instance, I know folks who have stayed in the same job, that they hated, for over thirty years; just because they can’t decide which career path is the best for them. Or some folks who can’t decide on what kind of food they want to buy, so they eat eggs or cheese and crackers at home. Relationships are perfect examples of indecision. We know some relationships are simply not good for us, yet out of the fear to make the wrong decision, we remain in those toxic relationships, afraid to find out one day we made the wrong choice!
Most of us who get analysis paralysis, like the ass in our story, linger long enough, until life makes that decision for us. Life events like death, illness, getting fired are perfect example of what happens when we avoid hard decisions. Interestingly, the ass story (read in Discourses by M.S. Irani) has a moral. At the end, the story declares, that any action, is better than inaction. So, after careful analysis, if you are faced with equally tempting choices and can’t decide, just pick one and go for it, then don’t look back. That’s exactly what I intend to do with few aspects of my life soon.
AMBKJ