Choose and decide

Two different and complementary levers to lead our lives

A little book inspired by Ignatius of Loyola (1) particularly enlightened me. So I want to share some extracts with you, as well as the meaning that these extracts reveal for me. “Choosing is not deciding. Choosing is an act of the will which manifests a preference in the face of a set of possibilities. Preference prepares our actions as posture prepares our movements. The preference is a subtle mixture of archaic reaction and fertile and living imagination. What resonates for me in this extract is that choosing comes from deep within oneself, from the heart, “from the guts”.

Choosing allows us to consciously prefer one reality rather than another, one possibility rather than another, one way of seeing things rather than another, one person rather than another, one path rather than another. , etc.

Choosing takes place over a long period of time and requires taking a step back to clarify and become aware of the possibilities available to us, and of our preferences, each time we want to take stock of our life.

Indeed, our life is a living process during which our preferences, which are none other than the reflection of our deep desires, evolve in the direction of the end for which we are created. Our vocation.

It is through our choices that our freedom is expressed.

“Deciding comes “from the head”. Deciding presents itself as the implementation of the choice. While the reasons for the preference may remain secret or discreet, the decision makes the choice known.”

The distinction between choosing and deciding is very meaningful to me. It allows us to raise awareness of a fundamental point for leading our life, namely that whatever things we decide, they are a means to help us towards the things we have chosen, without ordering or subjecting the end. to the means, but the means to the end!

“Thus, as for Ignatius, our vocation passes through a deep taste which gives our life its own dynamism and even its meaning. We will always find it present in what we undertake, almost effortlessly, even though it is sometimes really demanding and difficult; or again, in what we succeed and which makes us happy; or in what opens us ever more to gratitude towards life and to an ever more free and generous love of others.” This is our own vocation, which we should be able to express in a few simple words, our “reason for being”, our star. Who will guide the direction we give to our path (our choices). Who themselves will guide our steps, small or large (our daily decisions), on the path of our life.

Francois Thouret

(1) “Comment faire de bons choix”, by Bernard Bougon and Laurent Falque, MAME editions