I was walking in a busy street in Shanghai looking at the thousands of people around me when a thought invaded my mind and grew into a dwelling on the subject of choice.
Life is an infinite web of possible roads we can take and at any moment we are confronted with a choice: do we cross the road, do we go into a shop, do we stay at home, do we travel, do we walk faster, do we marry a person, do we take a job or leave it, do we live in country or another, do we speak or keep a secret,… and it goes on and on. And with every choice we make, we decide the next segment of our destiny here on earth. Choice is one of the greatest gifts that we humans have and one of our heaviest responsibilities. What if we make the wrong choice that leads us to a life of difficulty? What if we are ignorant and not able to make an informed choice? What if we allow ourselves to be like sheep driven by other’s choices and we just move along with the going current?
Don’t choices and freedom go hand in hand? How free are we really? How much of our lives are dictated by obligations and conformities to society, politics, religion, family, ignorance?
What about our children? Those who cannot yet choose for themselves. Do we make the right choices on their behalf?
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