We’ve all been there: you’re faced with a tough decision, and you have no idea which way to go. Asking for advice sometimes only goes so far, and weighing out the apparent pros and cons has yielded no clear answer. The logical option is not always the best one, because life is not always logical. Yet we don’t like to choose at random and barrel forward blindly when we can help it. But what do you do when there are so many unseen variables and the road ahead stretches into the unknown?
As a child of the 80’s I was really into a series of books called “Choose Your Own Adventure.” These books weren’t read in a linear way. Instead, every few pages there was a choice to make, and a prompt to turn to the corresponding page. If you were lucky the story continued on; if not you “died” or it would otherwise end. Now see, I’ve never been a fan of limiting my options, or linear progression in general — so at any given time I would have my fingers stuck in five different pages. If I didn’t like one outcome I’d just backtrack and pick the other. 
Now that we’re all grown up (sort of), wouldn’t it be nice if we could stick our little fingers into a few different options in advance? What if we could gain some sense of the outcomes of different choices before making them, in our lives?
We can.
I have developed a reliable method that can be used easily, even by those without a high degree of sensitivity, to get at least some kind of feel for different outcomes.
First it is helpful to keep in mind that time as we experience it is an illusion, and all the possible outcomes of any choice exist NOW, in the form of probabilities. Thus my technique involves reaching out and connecting with each of those probable choices and being open to any info we can receive about them.
In order to do this exercise, sit down and use whatever method you’re comfortable with to relax and clear your mind. The simplest technique is probably breath awareness — focus on your breath, and nothing else, for ten breaths. Its important to have a clear mind during this exercise, since you won’t be able to receive new information if your mind is already spinning with thoughts and feelings to begin with.
Once relaxed, with a clear mind, it’s a matter of reaching out with your awareness to feel out each of your choices. I personally do this in a more abstract way, without visuals. I simply hold one possible choice in mind and feel myself mentally moving toward it, and then I repeat this awareness action with the other choice(s). During this process I observe and make note of any changes in feeling, emotions and impressions I receive when reaching toward each option. Usually there is a pronounced difference in the way they feel, and by the time I’m done it’s fairly clear what the best choice for me would be. For those who are more visually-oriented it can be helpful to throw in some imagination. One option is to picture the different probabilities as pictures on a storyboard, and reach into them. Alternately you could view the choice as a fork in the road… walk down one side, see how it feels, then come back and walk down the other. Use whatever image (or lack thereof) is useful to you, to symbolize the different choices you have in front of you.
Similarly, different people process information in different ways, so it’s important to note any changes in your mental and physical state while going through this exercise. You might receive vague impressions, feel an emotional reaction, see images; it really doesn’t matter as long as you find the input you’re getting helpful. The point of saying this is that you not focus so much on how it’s “supposed” to happen that you miss what you actually get, which can apply to a lot of things for that matter.
While thinking over the material for this entry last night I came to some further realizations — the short of it being that I don’t do this nearly as often as I probably should. It is relatively rare that we’re faced with big, life-shaking decisions. The cumulative influence of the way we conduct ourselves every day has just as much impact on setting the course of our lives. A seemingly insignificant, mundane decision can have major unforseen consequences for better or worse. So, let’s practice looking to our internal guidance throughout the day, and not just when things get crazy. It’s a great way to strengthen one’s intuition, and my hypothesis is that not only will the info coming through will get more pronounced with practice, it will start coming through when we’re not deliberately reaching for it, to encourage us and let us know of possible pitfalls. Let’s find out, shall we?
–Palehorse
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