Monday, January 9, 2012

Choices

    We make choices all day everyday. We hope those choices we made are the best one's for us. Today I had the choices of going to my girlfriend's house and sleeping in with her, or take an hour long train ride to school. It was quite difficult to decide which one I would enjoy more, then I came to the conclusion that I would rather enjoy going to see my girlfriend than go to school. But then I put more thought into my decision and questioned myself "which choice is better for me?". With that question in mind it was evident that my decision would be to go to school. Whenever I have to make a decision for myself I put a lot of thought into the outcome of either choice I make. If I am still indecisive and I am able to, I ask someone who's opinion I trust to help me decide with their in put, whether it be family or friend.
    Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" is a poem that tells a tale of a traveler that had the opportunity of choosing which road to travel on. The woods were the color yellow where the road split in two. One of the roads bent into an undergrowth making the roads unequal. One was well trodden while the other road was grassy and wanted wear. The traveler wouldn't come back to travel the other road because he knew one way would lead to many other ways. He will be telling the story ages hence with a sigh. The tone is this poem is dull and mysterious. The traveler took the road less traveled on and that made all the difference. His decision is important because following the wrong road could lead him into a dead end. The poem says the decision was risky and could be rewarding.
    "Dead End" by Rudolfo Anaya is a story inspired by a Mexican legend of "La Llorona". The legend influenced the story by naming the main character after the women in the legend, by actually mentioning the legend at the end of the story, and by teaching a life lesson stating that life is a struggle and you have to take care of yourself. The setting is important because it takes place in a modern time at California, which gives a more realistic feel of the struggles the story portrays. The main  characters are: Maria, her mother, her father, her brother, her sister, dennise, ana, sandra, frankie, and sue yonomoto. Maria's mother has the most influence to her due to maria's promise to her mother saying she will stay in school and become someone. The conflicts in the story are, being true to yourself, fitting in with the crowd, staying above the influence, and human temptations. Maria's promise to her mother has shaped her whole life from how she thinks to how she acts. Lonely plays a factor in choice making because it creates empathy and desire. Empathy for another person's loneliness and desire to end that feeling of being all alone in a crowd. Envy and empathy impact choice making. Envy creates jealousy of another persons happiness and success, thus making you want to be like that person. Empathy creates pity and pity makes a person want to help that person see the brighter side of life. The symbol of this story is staying true to your promises and staying focused on your goals.
   In "The Tyranny of Choice" its provides data on how choices affect happiness. Research shows that the more choices the more unhappy people are. People are happy to have a choice but too many decreases happiness. Most people are not happy with the decisions they make. I am a maximizer because after doing the chart I revealed that its hard to make a decision that keeps me satisfied. Regret can make me not repeat the same choice I made to feel that way. It can lessen my options knowing that I will regret that choice if it's made. It means I chose to have something that I'm "okay" with, that I'm not completely satisfied but I'm willing to make due with it. Yes people generally have high expectations because I believe that choice is what we really need. The effect of our high expectations only creates dissapointment when my decision turns out to be different from my expectation.
   This cartoon shows choice by illustrating how the people follow trends and choose to shop at the same store as every other person to fit in with the rest.
   Choices are a part of everyones daily life. If we are satisfied with the choices made depends on the individual. In all the stories its shows how the characters are for the moment satisfied with their choice but as the results of their choice unfolds they realize it's not what they wanted. The choices I make in life do not satisfy me, for I feel I could always do better and thus I strive to satisfy that feeling.