	Sign In Sign-Up

Choices

CHOICE

I have made a lot of choices in my life both good and bad. When I was young I didn't realize that the choices I made would effect my life in the future. I had my family telling me right from wrong all the time. Like any other child I had to learn the hard way. It all started when I became a freshman in high school. I transfered the second month from my school to another high school because of a fight. Because of the process of being transfered I missed a lot of school days and started off having to catch up with work in my new school. I made new friends and some people I already knew I went to school often but after a while it turned into me missing a lot of days being sick or sometimes I would be lazy and not go because I lived too far from school. My grades started to drop as I went on though out high school because of my attendance. The choices have prolonged my graduating and now I have to catch up in school. I'm making up work to graduate next month.

The poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is about a man that comes across two roads in a yellow woods. He looked down one road far as he could to where it bent in the undergrowth. He chose to take the other road because it was grassy and he could see that it wasn't walked on. Although the roads were equal he told himself he would never choose this road again. This poem tells a lot about choice. While reading the poem I thought about life and how I have to walk down the road I choose hoping it's a good choice for me but the only way I will know is by walking though it.

"The Weeping Woman" by Joe Hayes is a story that influenced the short story "DEAD END" by Rudolfo Anaya. "The Weeping Woman" is a legend about a girl named Maria. Maria thought she was better than everyone else. She was very beautiful and she knew it. She would not give any guy a chance with her. One day she met a handsome man on a horse she knew he was the one for her. Later on they had two children and the man would leave home for months to work and only come home to see the children. Maria saw how much attention the man showed his kids and felt like he didn't love her any more. She grew jealous of the kids. One day she lost it and took the kids by the river and threw them in it when she realized what a horrible thing she did she ran down the stream but it was too late. The next day Maria was found dead. She was later buried but the ghost of Maria still hunts the river she weeps all day looking for her kids. The legend says if there are kids by the river late at night she comes and snacthes them up she is no longer known as Maria the name of the legend is "La Llaorona". In the short story "Dead End" there is also a girl named Maria. She faces a situation when she has to make choices about her future, dreams, and school when Maria's mother died, Maria promised her mom she will continue to get an education and become sucessful later in life. Maria goes to a high school and a lot of kids are different from her they rather smoke drink and party while Maria choses to go to class and study. Not only does Maria have a promise to keep with her mother she also has a little brother and sister to take care of. Maria faces a challenge of choice when a boy she really likes invites her out to a drive by the river. When he offers her some weed to smoke she thought she saw a lady crying out the window she thought about the legend of La Llorona and said to herself she doesn't want to end up like her. She knows that a life with this boy would not go well. While in the car she starts to think about her future, her mom and her younger siblings. Maria chooses to go home and avoid the dangerous lifestyle that her mom had warned her about.

"The Tyranny of Choice"by Barry Schwartz is an essay explaining that it is only logical to think that if some choices are good,the more choices we have is better. According to the essay, "Although some choices are better than none, More is not always better than less." I believe the essay is trying to say that it may come to people as common sense that the more choices or opportunities we have in life the better life we will have. I believe that is not nessesaily true. Social scientists David G. Myers of Hope College and Robert E.Lane of Yale University found out that an increase in choice and increased affluence usally brings a decrease in the well-being of people in the U.S. also most other societies. The question comes down to if we are “maximizer” (those who always aim to make the best possible choice) or “satisficer” (those who aim for “good enough,” whether or not better selections might be out there). I am a maximizer I do look for the best possible outcome out of every situation, and the best choices. Another thing that comes along with choices is regret. Regret is a major reason that individuals become maximizers. According to the article people with high sensitivity to regret are less happy, less satisfied with life, less optimistic and more depressed than those with low sensitivity".The more choices I have the more I regret. Adapting to a choice means to get used to it. Peolple have high expectations when they make a choice. Having high expectations can often lead to feeling disappointed or depressed. It is very common for people.

The cartoon above is an example of choices it is a picture of a car with a question mark on top of it and its heading down a street with two different roads to take "fame" and "fortune". It is obvious that the driver has a very hard choice to make. The cartoon is a perfect example of having to make a choice that will effect our future. It also relates to what I said about having to walk down the road we choose for the rest of our life, but in this case we are driving.

I have learned a lot about how the choices I make have a huge impact on my life. Not doing what I was supposed to do in high school lead to me still being in high school working harder then ever to graduate. Maria chose not to go down the same path that boy was heading had an huge impact on her future and also her little brother and sister.

Everyone has a choice.