#10: Choice & Our Perception
The conceptual idea of ‘Choice’ can be argued in so many different ways. Some think that choice is an illusion, while others hold onto it like their northern star.
My central argument on this topic is that choice is neither standalone nor unambiguous.
A long time ago, I noticed that our choices are heavily dependent on each individual’s perception of the choices we have, as well as the confidence we have to make those choices.
In other words, if we believe we only have 2 choices, we will only ever have 2 choices to make. Whereas if we believe we have more choices, we will explore more options beyond what is currently in front of us.
To me, this almost sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy.
(Full disclosure, I’m painfully aware that sometimes there are limits to our choices, especially in cases of health, medicine, travel, etc.)
Perception is a powerful influencing factor, especially when our choices are compounded with our emotions - or rather, our perception of our emotions.
Undeniably, I believe our perception of emotions is a huge factor in how we perceive choices - hear me out on this one!
In my journey to manage and live with my anxiety, I once heard Jay Shetty ask, “When it comes to emotions, how many of us amplify the negative? How many of us catastrophize… and maybe ruin the rest of [it]?” (Daily Jay, Calm, “Stop the Spiral”).
To add to this, in my most recent discoveries while reading Brené Brown's “Atlas of the Heart,” I learned that excitement and anxiety have a lot of shared physical symptoms. So our interpretation of excitement versus anxiety hinges on our interpretation of said bodily sensations as positive versus negative.
There are exercises to improve our self-talk, one being the consideration of a variety of possible realities to our situation; this guides us towards a mindset that’s designed to help us not only manage, but sometimes thrive in times of stress, because we'll never be able to avoid stress - it’s inevitable, afterall (Podcast: “Think Fast, Talk Smart: #119”)
My takeaway from these excerpts is that a lot of how we perceive our feelings can be caused by our perception of stress and how it impacts us and our lives.
Much like with our choices, perception is key!
The exercise to consider a variety of realities to a situation is one way that we can help ourselves exercise both our imagination and tolerance; recognizing that there's not a singular story to be told, we are presented the choice of whether we want to open ourselves to other options.
“Who are we, if not the person we want to be?”
We make choices every day based on multiple factors in our lives. While limiting our choices makes sense to avoid choice paralysis, when did we convince ourselves that we are limited in our choices?
Titled “Tori ("Bird" at Okochi Sanso Garden)” (2023), this photo was captured after a spontaneous visit to the Okochi Sanso Garden. Despite being limited on time, I still elected to explore the garden, thus leading to wondrous and stunning displays of color, life, and soul-deep rejuvenation.
Citations:
Shetty, Jay. Daily Jay: Stop the Spiral. Calm App.
Brown, B. (2021). Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaning Connection and the Language of Human Experience. (1st Ed.) Random House, Penguin Random House LLC. P. 13-15.
Stanford GSB. 119. Best Of: How to Embrace the Benefits of Stress. Podcast, Think Fast, Talk Smart: #119