Welcome to our ADULT LIFE DECISIONS Series. These posts are about the adults in the lives of children because children deserve caring, healthy adults taking care of them. It is designed to help adults become more aware of their own potential as they strive to make the best lives possible for themselves and their children. Each posting will explore life decisions adults are faced with and how they can update those decisions to be sure they are helpful to them in their current life circumstances.
To get the most from this post …
READ FIRST the earlier posts:
Successful Recycling
Find the Life Decision area below that you selected as #1 and #2 in Your “Best Fit” Life Decision Area. With each type there are suggestions of ways to open yourself to examining past and future decisions in that area.
SOLVING PROBLEMS – an example of THINKING FOR YOURSELF life decisions
These things may help you think about THINKING FOR YOUrSELF.
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Think of something it is important for you to say no to and say no to that.
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Next time you are angry, identify and label what it is that you are afraid of, hurt about, or frustrated by.
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Solve a puzzle.
STARTING NEW PROJECTS – an example of EXPLORATION life decisions
These things may help you think about EXPLORATION.
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Ask a friend to take you someplace you have never gone before or to do something with you that you have never done before.
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Drive to the store or to work a different way and tell someone who cares about you what you enjoyed about that.
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Explore new foods or activities.
DEPENDING ON OtHERS – an example of TRUST life decisions
These things may help you think about TRUST.
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Make time to enjoy comforts of life.
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Write down daily what you need that day and ask for at least one thing on your list.
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Do something to make your house more comfortable.
ENDING RELATIONSHIPS OR ROLES – an example of SEPARATION life decisions
These things may help you think about SEPARATION.
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Separate from a person who hurts you.
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Write about, “What I want most to accomplish in my life is …”
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Think about when you first took responsibility for yourself and list what skills you developed prior to that time made it possible for you to become responsible for yourself – celebrate those skills.
ACCEPTING AND USING AUTHORITY – an example of IDENTITY life decisions
These things may help you think about your IDENTITY.
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Find out about a different job or career.
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List ten “wild ideas” and tell someone who cares about you about at least three of those ideas.
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List three people with authority that you admire and what it is that you admire about them.
CREATING A “BUCKET LIST” – an example of LIFE SATISFACTION life decisions
These things may help you think about your LIFE SATISFACTION.
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Think about your life as a book: Title the important chapters, name important characters describe important turning points and climaxes.
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List three things you are wise about
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Ask someone who cares about you to help you with something that it is difficult for you to do physically – accept that help willingly.
WILLINGNESS TO LEARN NEW SKILLS – an example of COMPETENCY life decisions
These things may help you think about your COMPETENCY.
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Play a new game and figure out what the rules are.
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Learn a new skill and demonstrate it for someone who cares about you – have that person tell you precisely how well you did.
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List 3 mistakes you have made, what you learned from each, and one thing you will do differently next time for each one.
LIFE ACCOMPLISHMENTS – an example of LIFE PURPOSE life decisions
These things may help you think about your LIFE PURPOSE.
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Read about what life will be like for the next generation.
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Plan ways you can impact the future for those you care about.
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Make a list of things you are committed to: one that is about you, one about your family, one about friends, one about your community, and one about humankind.
Spend some time this week thinking about the decisions you have made in the past in your #1 and #2 areas. Think 
about whether any of these decisions are no longer working for you. If yes, you can think about discarding them all together or whether to adapt them in ways that would make them more helpful to you in your daily life today. Remember that recycling means you can upgrade your decisions to be more helpful to you in your life as it is in the here and now, rather than relying on old decisions from a different time and place in your life that may or may not be right for you now.
Next week’s post will discuss belief systems because what you believe about yourself, others, and the world around you dictates the decisions you will likely make in each of the Life Decision areas.
Picture Book Parenting 