A few times in my life, my father would say, “Do something, even if it’s wrong”. This would occur when I was frozen on an important decision. My father was a decorated pilot in World War II. I think his experiences there informed this sentiment. In life and death situations, inaction is not an option. His life and that of his brothers in arms were held in the balance. I think he abhorred the cowardice of indecision because of the fear of being wrong. What was required was courage in the face of uncertainty. Decisions had to be made, in spite of.

Now, this courage to make a decision didn’t mean complacency or sloppiness. To the contrary. It meant drawing on every resource available, including one’s best knowledge, intuition, experience, values, and reasoning. But, once processed, then act!

The situations that require this may be rare in normal life, but they do happen. When they do, they reveal who we really are.