Second Choices

Last Palm Sunday's homily was a mention on 2nd choices and I thought it might be good to reflect especially this week. As the days went by, I thought of dwelling on it in another perspective. Being uber emotional, I believe, I would like to state my rationales based on matters of the heart. And, questions are starting to appear one by one about two, double, second and yes, second choices.

Indeed, to have a second choice is just like in a cross-road. Faced with two paths, it brings in a dilemma which can either make or break us. And, at all times, deciding which one to choose is the hardest of it all. Second choices are two hard words. Second - which denotes plurality rather than singular, and choice - which has to deal with cognition. Mix these words and you are bound to a whole lot of either rejoicing or licking every wound it can entail. Come to think of it, cognition is not merely absorbing every essence of the word but digesting it,perhaps to include some gastric juices in it and come up with a bowel of substance. Although gritty but yes, cognition is all about absorption and its imminent decay after - a few seconds perhaps. And, to process two choices in a millisecond means a lifetime of forebearance.

Much a do about cognition and twos, as I place these into perspective, it seems to open to a multitude of stories, issues and yes - complications. I must agree that a lot has been written about second choices, about options in life, about cross roads, about being in a dilemma and all these always end up to one conclusion - that it all depends to the person who is confronted by these. Now, talk about how unfair life is, or how unfair destiny is, or how unfair our god can be. And we always end up looking for something, or someone to put a blame on. Needless to say, we find respite on these and somewhat feels that justice has been served. But, let us remember that no matter how much we deny ourselves of sanity over truth of second choices, let us bear in mind that we always confront second choices e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. And no amount of reason can negate that.

Second choices are normal, they are part of our daily life. It’s just like breakfast, lunch and dinner. We can do away with it for a day but unsure of what will unfold for tomorrow. It can be your boss whom you prefer not to see in the morning, but by lunchtime he is there poppin' in saying "hello". In the end, we simply succumb to it or yielded to it. My dear friends, there are a lot of other metaphors that we can always relate to second choices. Inevitably, it is inherent in everyone’s destiny perhaps.

Hard or challenging as it may seem, we simply have to face the fact that for every second choice we are into, we just have to ensure that we face these choices with a wise mind. Never should we let any emotion get into our judgments, otherwise, we fail. Second choices are to be treated just like any medicine on the planet – can be bought over the counter, but only after due consideration of what is the right medicine to buy. I know, that in some instances, to fail on these choices cannot be avoided. But, that is what makes us human. Never should we expect ourselves to be perfect. We should always save one bit of sanity over a miss of imperfection. Sure, we can always cry over spilled milk, lament on it, even dare to be angry about it, but, to linger on something you have cried upon the first time may not worth it. Linger only for too long as an hour perhaps but never a day. A slice of cake which fell from the counter is worth to curse yourself for a second, but hang on, why don’t you grab another slice instead? If we all aim for our eggs to be fluffy, dare not should we beat them heavily. Hence, a fluffy life is all about to dealing with second choices carefully but without heavy beating of ourselves whenever we make mistakes.

Bear in mind that humanity’s numeric system is always being increased from time to time. From childhood when we all thought numbers are only up to 10 (ten), up to our adolescent years thinking that a hundred would suffice, until we were more than shocked that a zillionth is actually less than a hundred light years. Our choices does not end on the second. It can go a long list and we just have to choose the best. It may not be the best, it should be something worth living.