Choices by Chance
I noticed a tendency in some of my friends. I judged them.
Then, I noticed it within myself.
We're all convinced that the choices we've made in life are superior to those made by others, especially when it comes to our careers.
Doctors believe that the medical profession is the most honorable way to spend a human life. Lawyers feel the same way about the law. Activists walk around with an air of moral superiority surrounding them. Politicians smirk at the thought of being in possession of power. Businesspeople take comfort in the thought that they have access to wealth. And artists like to flaunt the freedom that their lifestyles allow.
We truly believe that choices we made are the right ones, often while hiding the fact that we're just too cowardly to try alternatives.
But these choices we're defending – they're often the result of chance, even if we don't like to admit it.
How? Because they're shaped by the company we've kept in the past.
The groups we belong to shape our desires, and our desires shape our choices. But often, we find ourselves in groups by chance, not by choice.
The group of friends you shared a dorm with in college. Your peers at your first job. Or the childhood friends who lived on your street.
Some groups determined what you studied. Some groups determined what post-graduate degrees you applied to. Some groups determined what sport you played. In each case, you didn't realise what was happening, because the gravity of a group's culture pulled you in.
Maybe it's wise for us to step back.
To examine our choices. And occasionally, to change them. To reverse the effects of chance on our choices, even if it makes us uncomfortable for a while.