Can a single decision really change the course of my life?

Question

Like what? Will my life change a little?...alot?
How can that be possible?
How long does it take for those kinds of choices to go into effect? In other words, what kind of time frame is necessary for a decision to go from the point of conception to the moment of truth? What if I've made the wrong choices so far? Can I re-make those old choices in this new moment or am I bound by my past mistakes?

apho: thank you

Answer 1

Every decision which you -- or I or anyone -- makes will change our lives, of course, and the big decisions will alter them more than the small ones, naturally. That is actually what life is: the making of decisions and their consequences or rewards. However, in my instance, I have made choices which others might judge as wrong, foolish, irrational, whatever, but I have accomplished my major dream in life, my real goal, so therefore I consider that my "mistakes" were not that at all but were essential to my ultimate desire for my life. I suggest that you live so that you achieve your most hoped-for aspiration and not worry over the stumbles along the way!

Answer 2

I'm not judging anyone, but a big life changer is, say you want to go to college and soon after go to medical school when you are older and plan to become a doctor. Then you have sex for your first time you become a teen mom, This will change your life because almost all of your time and energy and money will be used to take care of your baby. Then you may not fulfill your dream and you may be poor and unstable. Or you could end up still reaching your dream if you really wanted to get there. My point is, it will change your life and make it a whole lot harder than it would've been if you decided not to have sex. Your life can change in a matter of minutes it doesn't take long. Take a look at Amber Hagerman getting abducted. It took just 8 minutes of her arriving at her grand parents house and going on a bike ride to being raped, abducted and killed, her and her family's life's were turned up side down forever in just 8 minutes, by making a decision to let their daughter go for a bike ride, but at 9 most kids can ride their bike alone without being abducted so it isn't the family's fault. This is possible because things happen for a reason in life and no one knows why, but everything happens for some reason or another. If you've made the wrong choices so far it is up to you to turn them around. If you really don't agree with your choices and what has resulted from them, only you can change the outcome if you really want to. You hopefully learn from your mistakes, so hopefully you won't go making the same mistake again. Everyone makes mistakes, sometimes we make wrong choices that's life. You live and you learn. No one would have wisdom if they had never made a mistake in their lifetime, no one is perfect.

Answer 3

Yes, and no. Each decision marks a point in a path, but then if things are laid out for us, then those choices have already been made and you were destined to make it anyway. If however, each choice decides your future, then yes you have chosen a particular path and that path will not lead to the same places another choice would have.

The time frame would probably be based on the weight of the decision in relationship with the rest of your life. If you choose chocolate over vanilla, the effects are immediate. If you chose to leave or stay, some effects are immediate some are going to be long run.

Choices are choices, can they be completely wrong or right? No I don't think so, just different. In the same mind set you are bound by past choices, you can make changes if circumstances are allowable, but who really decides if they are mistakes? You do, by the way you live them and the way you make them work for you.

Answer 4

Yes a single decision really can change the course of your life.
Every moment is equally altering.
It's possible, because all life comes from the same source of energy and each decision is part of the collectively connected energy.
The effects are immediate....there is no lag from point of conception to moment of truth.
There are no wrong choices...so no worries there.
You are always making new choices and re-defining your previous choices in this moment.
You are bound only by the past, the present and the future of all that is you.
Know Thyself in every precious moment.
Remember that time is an illusion.

Love!

Answer 5

Some decisions can be reversed through hard work and making the right choices right now. Some will cause an effect that you cannot reverse. (not immediately anyway). A few good examples were given by a couple of people here. The point is that you have to live in the moment and believe in yourself and you will find your way. No matter how dire your current situation is, if you don't give up right now then you made the right choice right now. It is said in Buddhism that all things are bound by the law of cause and effect. When you make a cause the effect is immediate, even though you may not notice it until much later. The question is do you believe in yourself right now? It is always from this moment on.......

Thanks for your question

Answer 6

Can every single decision change the course of your life? No. Can major decisions change the course of your life? Yes. We make thousands of decisions every day that don't have lasting effects on our lives, such as what to wear. It's the big decisions we make regarding moral things that change the course of our lives. Using wisdom and thinking things out carefully before we make huge decisions is the best route to take. Making quick, impulsive, unwise choices are usually the ones that change the course of our lives or lead us to reap their consequences for years to come. There really isn't a time frame for your decisions to bear their fruit, but they will bear it in time, whether good or bad. You can definitely learn from poor choices made in the past, if you're willing. Like the child who touches the stove and gets burned when you tell them not to. They make the choice to touch it anyway and feel the painful effects. Now that they know what that choice brings, they won't do it again. They've learned that route brings pain. You don't have to be bound by your past mistakes. Learn from them, make wisers ones next time. Learn from the source of wisdom, God, and draw from His wisdom and his ways that bring peace.

Answer 7

Most of us are the sum result of every decision we have ever made. Some of those decisions may seem to have a time lag. But there is a waking point, the place when we decide to wake up & the result of the decision if made thru all the layers is instant & lasting. We never need repeat past errors, in any moment we are brand new. Every now is an opportunity to choose differently. A single dicision can not only change the course of your life, it can change you & therefore change your world. It is possible to go entire distance with a single decision.

Answer 8

Sure it can. When I was 18, I joined the Air Force. Turned out that I had asthma, so they gave me the choice of staying in and being cured, or going home. I was homesick, so I said I'd like to go home. I've been regretting that decision ever since - for the lost opportunities, the missed experiences, and a hundred other reasons. Had I stayed in, the course of my life would have been very different indeed, and almost certainly much better than what it has been. Now I'm 56, and it's way too late to change anything.

Answer 9

Decisions are like bends in the road, some require more bending than others, but they are bends nonetheless. As the poet Robert Frost wrote about going back,

"Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet, knowing how way leads onto way
I doubted if I should ever come back"

Even when we go back to re-make a decision, it is still not the same as the time we first encountered it. Our travel on the path has changed us, and we see that place, that decision, in a new light.

Mistakes are only bends in the road, and we can choose another bend any time. The mistakes make the trip educational, so regretting them is a waste of time.

Answer 10

every decision changes the course of your life. sometimes a little sometimes a lot. if you decide to have the fish instead of the chicken, you might have a worse night if the fish is bad. if you decide to take one job over another you might meet your new best friend there. each experience you have large or small affects you in some way. as for remaking the choices, some yes, some no. you can take back an ugly sweater with little trouble, but you can't get a divorce and expect to get back to exactly where you were before the wedding.