The five o five : Thursday, November 8, 2007

Red Pill, Blue Pill

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We all have choices to make. Some more important than others. What to wear today. What to eat for lunch. Who to take to lunch. Whether or not to call off of work. Whether or not to quit your job. Whether or not to blog at 5am [explaining the 505] every morning. No matter what the options, you have to decide one way or the other. Staying neutral just allows someone else to make the choice for you.

I know most of you remember the movie The Matrix [imdb The Matrix], particularly the scene where he had to choose which pill to swallow [wavecentral.com Blue Pill | Red Pill]. If you haven't then it basically boils down to this guy named Neo [imdb Keanu Reeves] being told by this other guy Morpheus [imdb Larry Fishburn] that he's been living in a dream world his entire life and if he chose to take the right pill then he would be able to wake up and finally see the world for what it really was [youtube red pill, blue pill]. Decisions like that are the stuff of Hollywood but in real life we do have some hefty options to weigh. For those of us that have children especially, we have some irreversible selections we make every time we interact with our kids. The choices we make while they are younger transfer directly over to their "responsible adult account" or "deviant grown up fund" when they get older. Every choice is investment in some future action that we have yet to encounter.

C H O I C E S
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No matter what the options, you have to decide one way or the other. Staying neutral just allows someone else to make the choice for you.
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Have you ever sat down and written out the decisions you've faced in the past and mapped out the alternate reality that could have occurred if you had chosen differently? If you haven't you should try it (it's kind of fun). But do it just to see if your imagination can accurately project the consequences of your actions (committed or non). If you are able to map out the past choices you've made then that allows you to better sketch out the future choices you have to make. Most of us our afraid of choices that lead to life altering end results. Some of us have had more serious decisions than others.

As children most of our choices are made for us so we start out small. What toy do I play with? Is it wise to hit that girl and run away or should I take her a flower? As we get older the choices get a bit harder. What do I want to pack in my lunch? Should I do my homework now or wait till tomorrow in class? Is it wise to hit that girl and run away or should I take her a flower? Then, when we reach our late teens it gets really hard. Should I be a band geek or a math nerd? Which one of these five girls who asked should I take to the prom [tigga99 photo]? Is it wise to hit [urban dictionary *hit] that girl and run away or should I take her a flower? And finally we reach adulthood.

C H O I C E S
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Choices are the substance of life and experience. It fills our cups with happiness and success or poison and grief. Maybe next time when you are asked do you wanna do this or do you wanna do that, maybe you'll take just a second to think about what will come with the decision you make. Who will benefit or suffer from your selection? What will change in the world tomorrow? Will you earn respect or ridicule later in life? Am I making the right decision?
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Adults have impossible choices to make. Some people refer to life as a game because of these "Impossible Choices" but the seriousness of the game makes it more of a gamble. Which job offer should I accept? Am I crazy enough to run for public office or should I keep working as a humble janitor? Should I hit that girl and run or should I take her a flower (I promise I'm done with that one now)? These choices at this level affect not only us but those directly in our sphere of influence. You remember ENRON [wikipedia ENRON] don't you? How about Richard Nixon, George Bush, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Louis Farrakhan, Russel Simmons, Mike Tyson, Jesus, your mom? All of these people made (or make) decisions that have an impact on all those around them. Without their keen decision making ability we wouldn't have hip hop, equal justice, peace, scandal, war, something to talk about or most simply dinner.

Sometimes decisions make them self. Sometimes we are faced with a choice with no easy out. Veterans returning from the war often bring home the tales of hard choices made and not made. Each press of the buzzer in life's game is a life saved or a life lost. My daughter asked me one day, "How do people end up homeless?" I answered simply, "Choices". Choices are the substance of life and experience. It fills our cups with happiness and success or poison and grief. Maybe next time when you are asked do you wanna do this or do you wanna do that, maybe you'll take just a second to think about what will come with the decision you make. Who will benefit or suffer from your selection? What will change in the world tomorrow? Will you earn respect or ridicule later in life? Am I making the right decision?

Its hard to imagine a future unborn but its not wise to walk around like it's never gonna get here or its not gonna affect you.

Morpheus:This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.

Are you ready to wake up? A.Yes B.No C.Hit that girl and run away then take her a flower?

Do you wanna make the right choice? Read the follow up question to this post on Yahoo! Answers