Decisions decisions

Of the various bits of written content I've authored publicly, the pieces that seem to provoke the most discussion and joy are generally those that dive into how my partner and I have approached making some big personal decisions. For example, choosing a new country to live in, or deciding how to track our money, or what to do with our precious date nights.
I suspect the appeal is in how there's a certain glee imagining yourself in a novel "what-if" scenario - not too dissimilar to the way a good sci-fi or fantasy story captures the imagination. What if you had these resources, these aspirations, and these constraints? Would you arrive at the same conclusion? Would you struggle or survive? Where would you differ and why?

"Game recognise game!"

We've often sat around dinner tables with friends swapping challenges, imagining ourselves in each other's shoes; pondering how similar we would have lived had we been dealt the same cards. In a way it makes us feel remarkably close to certain peers even though we physically live worlds apart. There's a recognition that we would navigate each other's worlds in almost the same way when faced with the same context.

However, that feeling typically only extends to where you can identify enough yourself in another's profile. If the starting parameters are too wildly different then it's trickier to project yourself into their world. I.e. if the premise of the what-if is too alien then it's hard to engage in a meaningful exploration of how you would act in the scenario. For example something like "what if you were in the army overseas..." is almost immediately shut down with "but I would never join the army! How could I possibly know what I would do if I was there? Why would I have joined?" etc.

Sometimes it's just fun to peer into a life different from your own for the escape of it. Other times there's a benefit to spotting and adding fresh approaches to your own problem-solving or life optimising toolkit. Especially when the challenge at hand feels relevant to your own ambitions...and even more so when it's a scenario that is less often talked about openly.

All of which leads me to leaning into searching for more opportunities to share more decision-making journeys. Even the irrational ones. Sometimes it's comforting to be reminded that everyone is trying figure life out on the fly, despite outward appearances.