Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of my Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that most things can be changed. If
Speaker 1: you are overwhelmed by needing to make a lot of decisions,
Speaker 1: sometimes getting your head around the idea that few things
Speaker 1: are truly permanent can bring down the pressure a lot.
Speaker 1: As I am writing this, we have been living in
Speaker 1: our new house for about two weeks. In the course
Speaker 1: of our year long renovation project, I had to make
Speaker 1: a lot of decisions. Everything from tile colors and shapes,
Speaker 1: to drawer polls, to the trim on the carpet runners
Speaker 1: on the stairs had to be decided. I had help
Speaker 1: with most of those decisions, but still it was a lot.
Speaker 1: And now I am living with all of those decisions.
Speaker 1: For the most part, I am happy with them. I
Speaker 1: like the feel of my kitchen cabinet handles in my hands.
Speaker 1: I like the iceberg shade of blue in my bedroom,
Speaker 1: which is a different shade than I originally chose. When
Speaker 1: I walked in after the room had been painted, I
Speaker 1: just didn't like what was there. But it turns out
Speaker 1: that what has been painted once can be painted again.
Speaker 1: Even though I had made a decision. It didn't need
Speaker 1: to be permanent. It could be changed. So it goes
Speaker 1: with a great many things in life. As we are
Speaker 1: unpacking things and putting them away, those decisions can feel overwhelming.
Speaker 1: What if I choose the wrong closet drawer for my socks,
Speaker 1: Will I be pulling my socks out of this drawer
Speaker 1: and being a little unhappy about it every day for
Speaker 1: the rest of my life. Well, no, I just need
Speaker 1: to put my socks away somewhere, And if I decide
Speaker 1: after a few months, or even after a few years,
Speaker 1: that I chose wrong, I can move the socks. Even
Speaker 1: some big decisions can be revisited. People do go back
Speaker 1: to school, people do end relationships or sometimes even restart them.
Speaker 1: I know people who have left a company to do
Speaker 1: something else and then decided to go back to their
Speaker 1: original employer. Some things are permanent, or should be, but
Speaker 1: a great many things are not. This is a bitter
Speaker 1: sweet realization as we see children grow up and as
Speaker 1: we move out of homes where we raised them, and
Speaker 1: as loved ones pass on. But it can also be
Speaker 1: a comforting realization as we try to move through day
Speaker 1: to day life in a world of seemingly infinite choice.
Speaker 1: Now it is true that with a great many decisions,
Speaker 1: the original choice sticks just because it takes effort to change.
Speaker 1: I was reading a discussion thread recently where a number
Speaker 1: of people were ruing not having redone their floors when
Speaker 1: they moved into their new houses. Getting everything off the
Speaker 1: floor to put in carpet or take out carpet and
Speaker 1: stay in the hardwood floors basically feels like moving again.
Speaker 1: But it is not really a full move, And in fact,
Speaker 1: you could give yourself a few weeks of misery and
Speaker 1: at the end have changed the original choice. If you
Speaker 1: accepted that the cost was a few weeks of hassle,
Speaker 1: then the number of things that could be changed rises considerably.
Speaker 1: I also think that we should build in time to
Speaker 1: revisit decisions that may have been made in haste. A
Speaker 1: great many things in life don't matter, but if something
Speaker 1: does bother you build in time to tackle nagging tasks.
Speaker 1: If you keep finding yourself annoyed by where your socks are,
Speaker 1: then spend some time, maybe on a Saturday morning, during
Speaker 1: nagging task time, thinking if there is a better solution,
Speaker 1: and take advantage of forced shifts to rethink other decisions.
Speaker 1: We had always had some of our kids take the bus,
Speaker 1: but with our new location it makes less sense, and
Speaker 1: so that changes many aspects of the morning routine that
Speaker 1: hadn't been thought through before. It can be easy to
Speaker 1: get overwhelmed with decisions, but when you remind yourself that
Speaker 1: most things can be changed, this let's you be more rational.
Speaker 1: Maybe it is not the perfect choice, but it is
Speaker 1: a choice and probably you will like it. If not,
Speaker 1: after a trial period you can decide on something else.
Speaker 1: It won't be the end of the world. In the meantime,
Speaker 1: this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the
Speaker 1: number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at iHeart
Speaker 1: media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit
Speaker 1: the i heart Radio app. Apple podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.