Choicless Choice. Stop Choosing - Stop Worrying.

Dedicated to:
Dien,
Gordon,
Michael
(alphabetically respectfully)

Prelude1
A boy enters a store.
There is a sign on the counter.
"Assorted Chocolate Bars". "50 cents each."
He hands the owner 50 cents and says:
"I'd like to have your assorted chocolate bars".
The owner gives him ONE bar with the words:
"Here is your bar. Make it assorted yourself."

Prelude2.
A man CHOOSES to ignore gravity.
An hour later the police found him jumping off the cliff.
"I chose and I jump" were his words.

Morale:
There are TWO worlds and TWO kinds of people living in them.
People of the first world "make choices" in life.
People of the second world see that those "choices" are the ultimate reasons why people of the first world have problems.
People of the second world see that every "choice" is like choosing to ignore the law of gravity.
For them there is no "choice" like there is no "assortment" when you have only 50 cents.
To "choose" for them is to obey the Laws.

Here are some of the Laws.
1.Only small things will make you big. (You have no choice)
2.Every battle is won before it is ever fought.(You have no choice)
3.The more personal a problem seems, the more public it should be made.(You have no choice)
4.You must do everything as if it changes the world with understanding that nobody cares.(You have no choice)
5.Marketing to a niche you should address the whole world.(You have no choice)
6.We live in the world in which it is impossible not to succeed.(You have no choice)
7.Nothing you CAN'T live without can be a source of your happiness.
8.The small vignette by Michael Ross that follows is ENOUGH to make you rich/big.
(to be continued)

Step1. Choice as illusion.
Here is a story by Michael Ross.

"I'VE BEEN INVOLVED IN ONE CAR ACCIDENT WITH
ME BEHIND THE WHEEL..".

"After the accident I was without a car for
several days as they put it on "the
rack" to straighten the chassis and
repair the damage - the whole back end.

The other driver was also without a car
after as his front end made his car unable
to be driven.

Such was the force he hit me with."

I was waiting in a line of traffic to turn
onto a road. My entry point was governed by
a STOP sign.

I'm one of those rare people that actually
stops at stop signs.

"So the cars in front of me move off and I
move to the stop line to stop and make sure
the road is clear.

As I was stopped and watching and waiting
for the approaching car to pass I was
suddenly thrust into the middle of the
intersection. I'd been hit from behind.

Whose fault?

If we break it down we see something
interesting."...
M.R.
---end of excerpt---

S.L:
Yes, yes, let's break it down, and see what happens!

You chose to get into your car...
I chose NOT to sit in the car all day long.
I chose to drive that day.
I chose to open the front door, not the trunk.
I chose to put the keys into ignition first.

I chose to be on the road at that time of day.
I chose to go the route I went.

I chose to obey the stop sign and stop (long time ago).

I chose to REMEMBER that I always obey the signs.

I chose to obey the stop sign and stop (this time).

I chose to place myself at the scene of the accident.

No, you didn't KNOW that the accident was about to happen.
don't give me that "benefit of the hindsight".

I chose to drive at the speeds I drove.

I chose to arrive at the cut off point at 2:30.

I chose to wait for the approaching car to come from behind.

I chose to be hit from behind.

I chose not to move.

I chose not to press the gas pedal.

I chose not to pay attention to the bird that sang somewhere.

I chose not to listen to Bach's music on the car's radio.

I chose not to think about my wife at that time.
I chose to pay attention to the approaching car from the left.
I chose NOT to pay attention to the color of the sign's background.

The driver behind me also made choices.

He chose to also be on that road at that time.

He chose to not look.

He chose to plant his foot and smash into the back of my car.

Yes, yes.

He also chose to belch 3 seconds BEFORE the accident.

He chose to look at himself in the mirror.

He chose to eat ice cream for breakfast that day and that led him to a choice of getting later out of the house.

This is a veritable goldmine for Hollywood screenwriters and they DIG it!

The more "choices" you infuse into the picture, the more suspicious it becomes.
And with this enumeration with this winding of the list there suddenly comes AWARENESS:
"It ain't necessarily so".

"It Ain't Necessarily So" Department

1.You wouldn't even have REMEMBERED the place if it wasn't for the accident.
2.You placed yourself at the accident's time and location?
NO! The accident's time and location were DEFINED (and later got registered) by the accident.
3.Had you not been there, he wouldn't have hit you?
Really? How do you know that?
What about later that evening?
Tomorrow while you are crossing the street?
4.Did you choose to do everything which put you at the accident place at the right time?
How many things did you choose then?
There is a whole book telling how people explain the tragic situations.
It's amazing that at this time people tend to ascribe essential significance to minuscule details.
And picture the details AS IF there was a choice at those junctures.
6.If you'd chosen to drive slower or faster or go via a different route or leave later or sooner, would that cut off have happened as it did?
How do you know?
There are numerous literature and movie masterpieces that try to prove otherwise.
And yours is nothing more than mental movies.
7.In The singular/outstanding situations that wake us up.
ONLY and I repeat ONLY in situations involving accidents/death/... we start thinking about "choices" we make. Choice arise only when we ANALYZE things in LIGHT of singular EVENTS..When we ask why/for what?
We discover things/remember/become aware of.
And the most amazing thing is that in this Light EVERY detail becomes equally important.
9.This is what always happens with success stories. We have the singular event - this instance of success.
Listen:
"I drove my car and suddenly it occurred to me that I should be free in my decisions as a bird.
30 years later I am an owner of a thriving business with 1,000 employees...
Great success story.
8.You consider the accident a certainty?
Let's look closer at this "certainty".
(And let's not feel guilty and responsible BEFORE you KNOW what actually happens.)

Was it an accident?
Listen to this (reaction)
"I drove home and vowed NEVER to raise my voice to my wife and kids.
Or
"I canceled the meeting and it turned out later that the client I was about to sign a contract with was a criminal.
Thank God."

Unlucky one?

Let's play:

Luckily the approaching car passed by.
Unluckily I was hit by a car from behind.
Luckily I came out without a scratch.
Unluckily my car was totaled...
Luckily I finally got home.
Unluckily I was late.
Luckily I was late to the intersection of 2nd and Geary Blvd too, where a bomb went off the minute I was about to drive through according to my schedule.

Simon

P.S. I didn't "choose" to present all the above in the "post-to-forum" form.
For I actually don't have a choice and by the Law Of Doing Complementary Things I HAD to build the thing at the link below (it is not "filled" yet, but you can gain total control of this thing).

Why?

Because there are these Laws (compare with the Laws at the top):
8.Every line of any writing you should turn into a HEADline.
9.Every message on any board should be turned into a separate message board.
Otherwise, they DIE. (No choice again.)




Please Get Back To Seeds Of Wisdom After This