Best Decisions

I got an inspirational email today that said "Your best decisions got you to where you are today". The idea is that you need to change the way you think, or change something in you. Because obviously you could be doing better and if your best led you to this icky place then you need to change so you can reach a better place.

I beg to argue. Many times in my life and in the lives of people I counsel, we make DUMB decisions. And we even know it AT THE TIME. We know it's dumb! But we do it anyway! There are lots of reasons for this, but they aren't my point.

Sometimes we do indeed make our best decisions, but the event still turns out icky. This can be because other people are involved, and we have no say over their free will. There is a difference between a goal and a desire. A goal is something that is entirely dependent on me... no one else is involved for good or bad. A desire requires the cooperation of at least one other person. So while I can desire that my decisions make my life prosperous/successful/whatever, I can't have that goal b/c so much in life depends on other people cooperating with my dreams.

So thank you for the inspiration, but I reject the premise.