What Choice Do I Have?

I've heard this question from others.  I've lamented in this way myself a number of times. We say this when we're near the point of giving up - when we feel boxed-in and trapped.

"I know that what I'm doing (not doing) is (wrong, stupid, futile), but what choice do I have?"

There is no possible way to respond in a universal, one-size-fits-all, what-if scenario. But might we be placing ourselves in untenable situations due to choices made well before finding ourselves in that box?

Is it possible that seemingly insignificant choices made each day are generating unintended consequences in the outcome of our lives?

Let's say you're piloting an Airbus A340-500.  You are transporting 370 souls to their dream destination 3,900 miles away.  They are leaving a frigid Mid-January day in Minneapolis for the promise of the heat-infused beaches of Honolulu.



Let's also say that you're not paying attention and the direction of your flight is off by just ONE degree.  If I did my calculations correctly, you'd be off course by 68 miles.

Now just WHERE did I put that island?

And those 370 people?  Well. I wouldn't want to be you!

Seriously, I don't want my life to end up in the ocean with 369 angry people!

How do I make sure that I'm paying attention?

How do I prevent an inadvertent error creating negative consequences of biblical proportions?

Let's start small.  Let's start with something that billions of people do every day. They call it "social media".  It's in this arena where we choose to like, share, comment or ignore.

I copied a number of tweets appearing in my feed during the course of a few hours and placed them under arbitrary categories below.

Bad News

• Hackers demand millions in ransom for stolen HBO data
• Rapper who claimed 'God made me bulletproof' gunned down outside pizza shop
• 4-year-old shot in the head in possible road rage incident
• Caught on camera: Jogger shoves woman in front of bus
• Woman records fellow driver pointing gun at her on highway
• Nearly 2 dozen heroin overdoses recorded in 24 hours in Hamilton Co.
• Infant girl dies after being found unresponsive in house with dead animals

Haters

• Lil' Kim in NOKO is like a short fat drunk picking a fight with Chuck Norris. It doesn't end well    (an elected official)
• The Bible gives @POTUS the moral authority to use whatever force necessary... to take out an evildoer like Kim Jong-un. (mega-church pastor)
• Trump Now has The lowest approval rating of any president in 70 YEARS!!
• Congrats @realDonaldTrump | And congratulations to the GOP for propping up this lunatic. | Impeach the s.o.b. already! | Conservatives did not need to fight for trump. Liberals let him win via coastal extremist liberal ideologies, i.e. PC, anti white, SJWs.
• Hillary Clinton was right half of Trump supporters are DEPLORABLE. NEXT.
• Our way of life is under threat by Radical Islam and Hillary Clinton failed all over our country

Inspirational / Motivational

• I am grateful for the kind words and Blessed to be in the lives of so many wonderful people. Thank You All!
• Softball team plays in honor of fallen soldiers
• Help a student pedal out of poverty by providing a 2nd-hand bicycle & lock for just $0.04
• Congrats to all of CRC's Youth 2 Work interns! You did an outstanding job
• Appreciate the little things a person does for you
• The strongest people tend to smile even during their toughest times. Smiling is a psychological symbol of strength. Keep Smiling :)
• Everthing you need, your courage, strength, compassion and love; everything you need is already within you.
• Medford man's nearly 3 million pop tabs going to Ronald McDonald House
• UC basketball legend on hand for opening of OTR's Ziegler Park
• Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep the faith. It will all be worth it in the end
• You don't have to ask yourself "what would I have done during the civil rights movement?" All you need to ask is: what will I do now?

What we read - is a choice.
What we write - is a choice.
What we say - is a choice.

What we THINK - is a choice.

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

May you all land safely in Paradise.



PS. - (And completely off topic...)
When looking for the formula to calculate the distance variance, I kept thinking about the first flight to the moon.  How was NASA able to get there AND BACK, with the computer processing available in the 60's?    "You wouldn’t be wrong in saying an iPhone could be used to guide 120,000,000 Apollo era spacecraft to the moon, all at the same time."  (Link to article)  WHOA.