Decision-making on the fly…

I’ve never been much of a risk taker. I like the comfort of the known. And if I find myself facing a decision, I’ve learned to have a good bit of information so I can make an informed choice.

Sometimes I envy those who can just leap into the unknown, throwing caution to the wind. But I wonder how they do it? Just figure things out as they go?

I got a lesson in how to make a decision ‘on the fly’ this spring. Quite literally, actually.

We’re nosy neighbours…not really…

We had an Eastern Phoebe nesting on the ledge above our back deck. We were careful not to disturb her too much which wasn’t actually that difficult. The nest was a good 10 feet in the air so it wasn’t like we could bother her much except with our comings and goings from the back door and she seemed to take that in stride.

We were curious though, about how many eggs and eventually how many babies had taken up residence in that little nest. There just didn’t seem to be a good way to have a look without climbing up a ladder. I worried that would frighten the mama away from the nest and she may not come back.

My Sweet percolates on problems. He tucks them away in the back of his mind and lets his subconscious do the puzzling until he arrives at a solution. And he did – arrive at a solution that is.

He attached our camera to a tripod, extended the legs, and used the video mode. Standing on a chair and slowly lifting the camera by the tripod legs, he raised it above the ledge to get a video of the nest, retreating quickly before the mama got too upset.

Our curiosity was satisfied that all was well and we were surprised to see three abandoned robin eggs in an old nest beside the Phoebe.

Fast forward a couple of weeks…I noticed the baby Phoebes had grown substantially and there were actually four, not three as we first thought. Clever me figured I should have a better look and get a new video to show My Sweet when he got home from work.

Yeah, that didn’t go so well.

A decision on the fly

I climbed the chair, raised the camera by the tripod legs, and just as it rose above the ledge…every baby bird in the nest chirped in alarm and took flight! I ducked my head and clambered down from the chair, watching in dismay as all four babies flew in different directions away from the Great Invader (me).

I swear to God I had no idea those babies could fly. To be honest, I’m not sure they knew they could fly!

I watched all afternoon, but they never did come back to the nest.

Sometimes we have all the time in the world to consider our choices. Other times we are forced to take flight into the unknown and do our best to survive, or hopefully, thrive. Often life is a series of smaller, manageable choices that help us choose our direction.

I don’t have trouble with small, day-to-day decisions – the ones that aren’t really of any particular consequence. It’s the big potentially life-altering ones that stop me in my tracks.

I can’t say every decision I’ve ever made has turned out well, but I can say I’ve learned a lot over the years. (In fact, I’ve written about my struggles with decision-making before 🙂 you can read about it here.) 

Big decisions, little decisions…

I’ve learned that I ought to trust my gut a lot more than I do. There’s a lot to be said for using your intuition. Some things just ‘feel’ right and there’s an incredible sense of peace when I choose to go one way over another. But you also have to know how to recognize when fear or insecurity is what’s pushing you away from something.

I’ve learned that if things don’t turn out the way I hoped, I haven’t lost the ability or the opportunity to change things. Life is a lot like the ‘choose your own adventure’ books (which have been revamped recently by the way) where you make a choice then the consequences become apparent and you find yourself faced with a whole new set of options to choose from.

And I’ve learned that some opportunities really only do come knocking once. Sometimes you’ve got to be brave enough to seize the moment and just go for it! Sometimes the best choice is the one that scares you the most, pushes you the farthest from your comfort zone, or the one where you step out blindly in faith and trust that whatever happens you can make it work.

And, oh the joy when you take that leap into the unknown and suddenly realize you can fly after all!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYhFVfkfujs

P.S. If you’re looking for a bit more expert advice on how to take the fear out of making decisions, you can check out this article from Forbes.