Decision making is a powerful skill that must be developed with time. Some decisions are easier to make than others. Some decision making processes may feel difficult, scary, and challenging. Have you ever felt that? Good news! Whether you have or haven’t, I have. I’ll start off by sharing my two favorite films. My favorite movies are Titanic and Armageddon. Both films include decision making processes as majority of movies do, but within these two films, I find myself intrigued and passionate about the romantic and life pressure aspects. I will include two decision making processes I’ve analyzed in both films. Although there are multiple examples in the films.

The first film example I’ll share is from the “Titanic”. Rose found herself running across a large ship in which she could’ve put her eyes on anyone. But, she put her eyes on Jack. Lucky Jack won a ticket for the “Titanic” that he could’ve never afforded on his own. Rose didn’t mind social status or what her surroundings would think. Her eyes glimmering to Jack was what I call love at first sight. The type of love that does exist, although many disbelieve it does. Rose ran across the ship in one of the scenes screaming for Jack. “Jack, Jack, Jack” as she searched for him with hopes of saving him as the Titanic was falling apart slowly. She could’ve ended with her fiancé, “Billy Zane”, but she didn’t. Rose ran across the ship for Jack, not “Billy”. Billy was successful, powerful, handsome, and incredible according to Rose’s family and most women. But Rose saw something unique in Jack that she had not found before.

She found true love, excitement, joy, freedom, and most especially soul union prior to their intimacy. In one of the scenes, Jack and Rose ran to a car in which they experienced intimacy, although their physical intimacy was a complement to what they had already experienced as they spoke, danced, hid away in the ship repeatedly, and discussed social status in tables. What Rose found in Jack, she hadn’t found in Billy nor anyone. Rose was under constant pressure from family and social expectations regarding finances, success, and status. Rose had to make a difficult decision in the midst of chaos as the ship was sinking and coming to an end. Rose knew she could’ve ended dead by “Billy” as he ran after her with a gun. Either Billy would’ve killed her or Jack. Rose knew she was endangered, pressured, and seen by many. Rose didn’t care about anything or anyone which led her to two decisions I found beautiful.

The first decision she made was to expose her love for Jack. She disregarded her engagement, her families perception, and anything coming in between her love for Jack. I applaud her for what she did because I would’ve first ended the engagement, and then made the love public. But, Rose was furious, angry, and disappointed by Billy. Jack , the lucky ticket winner, was the lucky man to come across her. Second, at the end of the film, Rose survived, but Jack didn’t. In the last scene, she hides herself away in fear as she noticed “Billy” walking by. Billy lived, and Jack didn’t make it unfortunately. Rose chose to hide and not reveal herself to her fiancé Billy. Why? Because she made a decision that required boldness and courage. A decision that relates with what I experienced in my past. The “Titanic” film is a movie that has captivated my attention for years.

The second example I’ll share is found in the “Armageddon” film. Bruce Willis plays the character of “Harry”. This film I’ve watched hundreds of time as I’m deeply in love with our planet, aerospace, the stars, moons, planets , and all creation itself. Have you ever stopped to think what would happen if suddenly the world begins to end in our eyes? The Armageddon film allows viewers to connect and experience with what is more than likely, and possible to come.  The world continues to experience anxiety and fears due to global changes, irregular climate, fires, and natural disasters occurring quite often. When I was younger, I’d watch the Armageddon film with my father. He would talk about natural disasters and NASA. I believe he may have secretly wanted me to become an astronaut. What he would mention were degrees in education, law, business, or medicine. Although, an astronaut would’ve been a lot more interesting than what he’d mention. Overall, I’m thankful for my parents and their love for me. While watching this film, my father always told me “In life you have to make decisions. Some will be easy, but most will be difficult. You can’t wait for too long, because life has a clock that is ticking”. I remember his words so clearly and vividly as my favorite scene would begin, the time ticking bomb that “Harry” had to figure out within seconds. I would think “Harry, shall you cut the red wire? The blue wire? Hurry up Harry!!!”. I would pretend to not know which color of wire he would have to cut every time, despite already knowing well which one it would be. Why? To maintain excitement, joy, and to practice what I call “unconditional love” that can also be practiced by doing the things you love. I love analyzing films, colors, patterns, art paintings, people, behavior, and a lot. Most especially, films. In my early years of college, I took film courses and study to understand editing, cinematography, and the earliest times of filmmaking. Perhaps, that is why I relived the scene with such excitement!

I recall reliving the scene in which Harry’s hand would shake, as he was covered in sweat, fear, anxiety, loneliness, sadness, and despair knowing he would leave his daughter behind. He had to make a choice which was to cut a wire and hope it would be the correct color. He also had to make a choice that could be observed prior to him being left alone with the wires. He could’ve sent anyone else to walk across space and the route he took. He could’ve chosen anyone, except himself. But, he knew deep down that he was choosing life for humanity and death for himself to save the planet, people, families, children, his daughter, and all those he loved. He was a true heroic figure whom I will always admire. His role can be compared to real life heroes such as our military soldiers, officers, and many giving their lives away for humanity.

In our beautiful country, the United States, we have beauty, but chaos and pain. Our military has experienced war after war, and civilians have slept while our soldiers die for our freedom. Isn’t that heroic and beautiful? Decision making can be seen and found in majority of life examples. We can view millions of examples if we simply stopped for a minute to connect with life itself a little bit longer, rather than with the stressors and chaos of the world. To encounter that, we must remove ourselves from distractions and experience solitude, and connect with individuals that will study life with the goal of living it at its fullest extent with high quality, love, care, and caution.

Every decision has an impact in our lives. Whether its positive or negative, but every decision leads to growth, discovery, and fulfillment. Without experiencing positive or negative impacts, we cannot discover fulfillment. Years ago, I would have never imagined myself finding the freedom I found by making a decision that was difficult. I would have never imagined myself writing or speaking to young girls in events to help them avoid pain. I will share a few examples based on my real life with the objective to encourage you to make decisions. I was once engaged, and I called off my marriage ceremony days before getting married. Why? God knows my reasons which will be kept private for life. What I can share is that calling off matrimonial plans, and destroying a wedding planner book took courage, strength, and most importantly a painful process that led to healing, freedom, joy, and a clearer vision of what I dreamt of all my life. I chose singleness, and continue to choose singleness. Will I choose singleness forever? No, but when the right timing comes to my life, I will reveal my “true love” and love him for a lifetime.

There was a time in my life where I also had to decide what career I wanted. I was often advised to study law, business, and very interesting fields. But, I wanted to choose what I felt joy with by just speaking about it. I found and discovered that joy within the field of education. The field of education is large but my passion are the youth and students of all ages (preferably higher education level). Choosing my field wasn’t easy as I experienced a year of confusion at first. Confusion, doubt, uncertainty is normal. I seek to normalize the negative impacts, the negative feelings, and thoughts. To make decisions, we will experience highs and lows. Those highs and lows lead us towards our ultimate understanding and fulfillment. During my first year, I was interested in medicine and law. Later, I realized I was passionate about education, children, and youth.

Examples, examples, and more examples. Now take a moment to reflect and think about decisions you made in the past, are currently making, or will make in the future. Jot down your thoughts or take a walk to think them through. I encourage identifying your best and favorable way to disconnect from society to hear yourself more. I enjoy walks, and some soothing jazz. I know of some that find themselves while sky diving, diving into a pool, or not doing anything at all. Every single person has ways to decompress and new ways to explore. You have the power to hear and understand your spirit, soul, and mind. All decisions in life aren’t easy to make, but they will lead you to growth and fulfillment. Some decisions will involve pain, longer processes, and sacrifices. Think of “Harry” from Armageddon once again. Think of “Rose” from Titanic. Or think and connect with my stories.

I’ve found peace, love, and fulfillment by my decision making processes. I choose and decide everything I do in life with caution, but I’ve also learned to make immediate decisions at work, for emergencies, and situations in life in which we may find ourselves with desperation. I once found a homeless lying in the floor passing out, while many walked by him as if he wasn’t human. I ran to Rite Aid , near Times Square, in New York. The water dripping in the homeless man’s mouth on a summer day during heatwaves saved his life. I was late to a meeting, but every life matters. We can’t save the world? But we can try to make it a better place. We can’t make everyone around us happy or can we? Not possible. But we can make decisions that will bring growth, fulfillment at heart, mind, soul, and spirit for a lifetime. I encourage readers to make decisions by loving God and themselves first. God’s love for you is unending and he seeks to give every single person specific promises of goodness meant to be celebrated for a lifetime.