Life is all about choices

At the start of every school year I spend a lot of time talking with students about class selection and, for seniors, about college selections for where they will apply. There can be many hard choices involved with deciding what classes are most important to you when you also want to have lunch with friends or the opportunity to sleep in during 1st period. But I actually believe that wrestling with those decisions is great practice for the bigger choices that you'll have for the rest of your life.

Every time you say "yes" to something in your life, it also means you are saying "no" to something else. What do I mean by that? If I choose to say yes to scrolling through social media on my phone, then I am choosing to say no to going to bed earlier and getting more sleep. If I choose to say yes to sleeping in, then I am also choosing to say no to getting up and moving my body before school so that I am more focused throughout the day. If I choose to say yes to going out to eat for lunch every day, then I am choosing to say no to sticking to my budget of what I can afford.

I intentionally picked 3 examples that were saying yes to something I'd enjoy when the consequence is something I probably need more of and tend to neglect. But life choices aren't always that clear cut.

For example, I can say yes to going to college at College A, but that means I am saying no to all of the other colleges that I might like as well. I can say yes to taking a class that sounds interesting to explore for my future, but at the same time I might have to say no to continue in a class that I have been involved with for a long time and that can feel scary. Or perhaps it is being forced to say yes to one extracurricular activity over another even though you wish you'd have time for both.

There are so many different aspects that can come into play. Sometimes the choice is between what you want now and what you want in the future. Sometimes the choice is between 2 unknowns. Sometimes the choice is simply to trust yourself and step forward with faith in your ability to make decisions. You're getting lots of opportunities to practice making decisions now and that will only help you as you move forward into the future. So please focus on trying to make the best decisions you can now in the little decisions so that you will have confidence in your ability to make the bigger decisions as they arise. And remember, it can be hard to say no to something that you'd enjoy, but you are giving yourself other great opportunities with all of the Yes's that you choose.