Decisions

I've recently discovered something that happens when I make a decision. When I make a decision, its final. The end, no questions asked, that's just the way its going to be now. I decide lots of things, and because of my decisions, it changes how I view things.

I know I talk about Smoky Mountain a lot, but bear with me while I use it as an example of my decisions.

The first day of training, when I met a bunch of the cooks and servers, I realized what this was going to be like. I saw that I'd be working with non Christians in a stressful environment while you're racing the clock with every single order, and striving for perfection all at the same time! I saw in meeting them that this was not going to be an easy job, and I knew that if I let it, I could be very unhappy with it.
So I made a decision. I decided that I would like my job. No matter what. Thats all there is to it! Work is a blessing, and every challenge is a test of our trust in God. Once I'd made this decision, I haven't had one day at work where I was unhappy. Not one. Sure, I get tired and want to come home sometimes, but I'm never unhappy there.
I get excited about going to work, and when I'm there, I feel like I'm actually doing something to help others. By me being there I'm helping the servers, and satisfying customers too. In the long run, we get more customers because of how well I do with my work, and we make a larger profit, and everyone is happy. Especially me, because of my decision. I stuck to it at the beginning, and now I don't even have to think about it. Its just the way it is now. I love my job, and I don't even have to ask myself if I'm happy anymore.

In the same way, I made a decision about challenges, like school, or doing the dishes or doing laundry, or going to work. Basically, things that are designated as "work". My decision was that work is a blessing. I know thats obvious to any Christian, but if you don't take the time to think about it, and don't believe it, then to you... it won't be a blessing.
I decided that it is a blessing. Knowing this gives me motivation to want to overcoming the challenge to receive the blessing. The challenges in life are what build us up, and our attitudes about those challenges play a huge part in how we view them. Deciding that challenges are things from God, that they're good things, makes the work so much more worth it. You want to do better, you strive harder to reach the end goal, while at the same time trying your hardest to give it all you've got. Because its more than worth it now.

And this can be applied to almost any area of life. The hard things, the easy things, the normal, every-day things, the out of the ordinary things, in friends and in family, and in those who don't see eye to eye with us as well.

Deciding in this definite way that something is good or bad, or right, or wrong, and then sticking with that decision is something I'm good at now. It might take me some time to make the decision, but I always know that it needs to be made, and I always do end up making it. And once I've made it, and convinced myself that it was right, I don't easily let go of it unless something or someone proves it (and thus, me) wrong. Making these kinds of decisions, though, is one of my strongest barriers, and it has saved me from making many foolish mistakes. For example, I don't often struggle with floundering between two things. I just say "hey! This is how its going to be." And its done! I'm not left in the open too much, and that in itself is a blessing.

Being overly opinionated can be a burden, but having the ability to make decisions well is not. Decisiveness a blessing, and I don't plan to waste it.