Making a big life changing decision can be agonising, with list after list of pros and cons written on discarded paper, many night's tossing and turning in your sleep, and confusing discussions in your head leaving you in tormoil.
Big decisions are risky.
What if you make the wrong decision? How can you know if the decision you make is the right one? Making BIG decisions can be so hard because once it is made it is difficult to turn back if it was the wrong decision. Those big life changing decisions can cause severe anxiety, stress and even feelings of depression, especially if the decision involves the emotions of others, which can be such a heavy weight to bare.
You might want to leave your marriage, your job, your family, your home and everywhere you turn the answers are not clear. It’s not like choosing beef or chicken for dinner - big decisions can change your life forever.
Once you've made a decision you may not know for many miles down the road if it was the right choice or not. So you have to choose wisely, taking care not to take the wrong turn. Nobody wants to live a life with regret.
So how do we make those big decisions?
A number of the residents in Summer Bay are facing a fork in the road, another choice has presented itself and all of a sudden their life has stopped dead in its tracks and uncertainty of which path to take has arisen.
Sally has found herself in a difficult situation where other people’s emotions are at stake. Losing her job as principal of Summer Bay High School was not something she had prepared herself for, it was outside of her control. But now it has arrived, she’s suddenly presented with many choices, reaching far out beyond Summer Bay.
Should she take the desk job in the city? Will she be happy in that sort of role? Maybe taking the desk job and moving to the city could present other opportunities for her in the future.
Or, she could go even further a field and just take some much needed time out. Go overseas and travel the world, following the backpackers trail, ebbing and flowing wherever life takes her.
And the other option is to stay in Summer Bay, looking after the caravan park. Maybe she could open a little restaurant of her own? Build on the caravan park and make a beautiful retreat for people to visit?
What about the people who will be affected by her decision? If she leaves, she will be leaving behind Miles, Cassie, Leah, Ric, Matilda… so many people who she loves, and who need her. Or do they really need her? And what about Pippa, she loves it in Summer Bay and has so many friends there?
Then there is Drew. He and Belle are fighting and things aren't in tip-top shape. He’s been unhappy with Belle for a while because of the choices she’s made in regards to her new job at the local paper. Will he stick around in Summer Bay to continue his relationship with Belle?
And Miles. He has found himself in Summer Bay after being adrift since he lost his family in the Tsunami. Should he continue on his way, knowing he’s found peace in his heart through the connection of his twin sister and continue on with his life until he finds a place he can call home? After all, he achieved what he came to Summer Bay to achieve. Maybe there is something else out there for him, somewhere in another town along the way?
Maddie and Ric are not untouched by this big decision making process that is going on in the Bay. Noel has resurfaced in Ric's life. Is it about Viv's baby and what should they do if it is? Maddie has reassured Ric that she will stand by his decisions and that they can get through anything together, that's a big committment to make for a young girl. Will they be able to face these big decisions together?
Decisions, decisions, decisions.
Looking back on your history, what was the big, risky decision that you had to make? And how did you come to the answer? (and was it the right answer?)
Write in and tell us about your life changing decisions.
Written by:
Megan McAuliffe
