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Random Lives

17/04/2026

Describe a decision you made in the past that helped you learn or grow.

I think it’s impossible to single out one specific decision. If you hadn’t done A then you wouldn’t be in a position to do B and for that reason C would never enter the equation and so on. As human beings we are constantly trying to find patterns, reasons and starting points. This is because we want to make sense of life and to imagine that there is a guiding hand, either of God, whoever you perceive that entity to be, or fate. The greatest likelihood, however, is that we are random organisms living random lives in a random universe. Pretty much the only element that is fixed is the human factor, which is that we are imperfect creatures making decisions with very little information and giving power to those who do not deserve to have it.

We love a story and we constantly tell narratives that we pretend to ourselves are true or logical. In fact the stories we tell are just as made up as the fiction we read. So, if you find a decision for today to talk about, the decision will be interesting and no doubt seem important, but it will be part of a random series of events that you are retrospectively putting a structure to.


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From → 2026

2 Comments
  1. alifetimesloveofmusic's avatar

    Throughout most of my adult life – prior to meeting my wife – i veered between lack of confidence-fuelled stasis and snap decisions. I moved to Watford aged 18 in the space of a week after being offered a job there; when some insurance money came through a few years later i booked a long weekend trip to Paris; suddenly becoming a Goth in my early thirties for a few years; and going over to Belfast to stay with a woman and her family after chatting to her on a Madness fan page because she’d got us free tickets and backstage passes at their Belfast show, none of which i had any proof of and of course she could have turned out to be a nutter (thankfully she wasn’t and we remain friends to this day!) I believe these things helped me to come out of my shell bit by bit, as i was a rather shy person.

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