Every day boils down to a series of small and big decisions. Our lives are busy — there are lots of decisions to be made. At times, it’s easy to become overwhelmed.
There are really two ends of the spectrum that we don’t want to fall on when it comes to decision making. On one end, we go into autopilot, and every decision is an auto-response. On the other, we freeze up, incapable of taking action.
In college, our campus chaplain had a great saying for this second situation, “Just take the next best step.” Whatever that is.
So often, when we freeze up on a decision, we wait for someone to tell us what to do. But, in those situations, we can decide what the next best step is. It’s important to note that it’s not just taking any step, but taking the best next step. It’s a process of prayer and prudence.
St. Ignatius has a great quote that applies here: “Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you.”