The Problem With Always Doing The "Right" Thing

Maybe The Wrong Move Is The Right One

Are you obsessed with doing the right thing? I am. Oh, I don’t like to admit it, oh no, but if I’m being honest, I am obsessed, nonetheless. Why is that? High moral standard? Maybe. Oversized sense of justice? That’s being generous to myself. Fear of consequences from doing the wrong thing…ding, ding, ding. That’s it!

The other night I stared at a dessert menu so long the waiter asked if I’d be staying the night.

It shows up in tough situations and the silliest little life choices. “Should I eat this dessert?” “Should I take on investors?” “What’s the right thing to do?” Of course, some part of me knows it is neither wrong nor right. It’s a matter of cause and effect. If I eat dessert, I will be consuming calories my body doesn’t need…or taking on investors, maybe I don’t need them either…both can cause unnecessary bloating. My over-active brain wants to know what’s right and freezes me in the meantime.

You see, my mind wants to judge. That’s what minds do. It was built to protect me from making a choice that might get me eaten by a saber-toothed tiger. Decision stress arises, mind tells body to pump in enough cortisol to run from that tiger. Only it’s fricken’ dessert and the cortisol boost is a bit over-kill (pun intended). Same with big decisions, the fight or flight response kicks in and it feels like do or die to make the right decision.

Have you experienced this?

Have you ever gotten caught in a loop of indecision because you didn’t want to suffer the consequences of making the wrong move? It kills all momentum…sometime the ability to make any move disappears while you’re waiting.

What if making the wrong move was right?

I mean, wrong moves we we survive from prevent future wrong moves in situations with potentially more dire consequences. I think some people even have a name for this phenomenon. They call it “learning.”

A wise man once said (or maybe it was the spirit channel Bashar), they said: “Life is simple. Simply live moment by moment and choose whatever choice thrills you most in every moment…then commit 100% of your actions to that choice, letting go of an attachment to the result.”

“There’s your fool-proof method,” they said, whoever they were. “Maybe momentum is better than mastery.”

…willing to learn from whatever consequences emerge as a result?

Better to risk the occasional bloating then to not pass up all the desserts in the world?

Hmmmm.

But then I ask myself: “is that the right thing to do?” :-)