[Adaptated into an essay in my book Thrive! Falling in Love with Life, published Nov 1, 2011.]
Even as an insatiable language enthusiast who revels in the nuances of words, for most of my life, I had used the words choice and decision interchangeably. “Come on, hurry up and decide!” or, “Come on, hurry up and make a choice!” sound quite the same to most ears and minds, don’t they?
In the summer of 2005, at the urging of a colleague, I enrolled myself in the Landmark Forum. There were many, many transformative things I learned in that intense 3-day weekend, but one of my biggest takeaways was an awareness of the significant difference between a decision and a choice. This distinction was only introduced to me that weekend; it has taken years of iterations to really understand it, and continues to take more time to actually practice it. (more…)
Reflections and Revelations 