How To Make Hard Choices Easy

If I ever offer to play you at backgammon say no. There will be lots of loud sighs when the dice don't go my way. And it's not just the drama. 

When faced with a roll that makes me choose between backgammon bankruptcy or possession by demons, I sit and think. And think. And think some more. 

It's the Kobayashi Maru of backgammon. Every scenario guarantees failure, or at least an open man. Simple, right? What's there to ponder when there's no choice? 

Yet I can't bring myself to choose between horrors and the gameplay stalls. This is hugely irritating, I am told, and why you don't want to play me. 

But there are valuable lessons in all my stalling: We get stuck when we have to do something deeply unpleasant but necessary. We also get stuck when we have to choose between two repugnant things. 

We delay the inevitable future unpleasantness, and that fear paralyzes us. But the sooner we take action, the faster the next roll of the dice will propel us forward. 

If you need to wallow in dread for a bit before deciding, go ahead. Just give yourself a time limit of 48 or 72 hours, depending on how much you like to suffer. 

Then, if you still can't make up your mind about which bad choice to choose, just flip a coin. BUT, if you don't like the coin toss, then choose the other option. That is your true self speaking to you. 

Congrats! You are now unstuck.

Image credit: Jean Béraud, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons