There are people in this world, who when they watch me make a quick decision, freak the heck out, and they try to convince me that the decision they just saw me make was both hasty and premature. To those people I say, "If you can't come to a complete conclusion about something in a nano-second that would be your problem, not mine." I tend to make a great deal of my decisions without the luxury of taking much time because most of the time my gut feeling about something is so accurate that giving myself time to think could and usually does mean disaster. I make good, hard, fast decisions, and I do it all the time. It is who I am, it has served me well.
That being sad, I won't say there haven't been times when I feel like slapping myself silly over having made snap decisions -- my marriage comes to mind. In fact, sadly, my marriage comes to mind too often when someone else is trying to convince me to slow my brain cells down long enough to at least line them up correctly. To those people I say, "Stop reminding me. I have lived with that memory for long enough, and the dead horse you are beating deserves to be buried once and for all." I personally never think of my marriage because it was the most senseless and idiotic thing I could have ever done. Admitting that is hard enough, reliving it simply will not be acceptable. YES, I do screw up, but the times my fast calls to do something, have something, buy something, make something happen, or throw something out the window, have far outnumbered the ONE bad decision I made so many years ago.
I play solitaire online with a group of people and I just can't seem to figure out how they don't see what I see, or how they don't move this card over faster and they wait to see if it's going to be better to move that card instead. I do that during a chess game, sure, but I'm not about to take 4 or 5 full seconds to think about whether or not this red queen belongs on that black king or not. Nope, there she goes, and move forward! NEXT! Most of my games (on medium to hard level) end up being solved in under 3:48 minutes, which is my personal goal for myself. Ending in less time is always acceptable, ending over 4:00 minutes really pisses me off, I'm not going to lie. I double down on the next game trying to force it under 3:15 minutes! (Does this show my stubborn side?) I'm hard on myself, no one else need be.
Recently I decided to book a few concerts for a few good solo Christian artists in the UK. I've decided to bring them to the U.S. to play, and I've decided to make it happen this spring. I've even picked the artists, and they'll let me know soon enough whether or not it will work out. One of them said YES immediately, one hasn't gotten back with me, and the third said he'd pray about it and let me know because some of the gigs he was booked for last spring cancelled due to COVID and they may pick him back up again this spring. OK, that makes sense. I suppose I can consider this a challenge or I can consider it an opportunity for the next solo artist who CAN make it. I haven't decided on that ONLY because I've not allowed myself to do so. I won't cut this artist simply because he wants to take time to think about it, that's his thing - - he's a thinker. (I'm a doer) I'm sure it will work out for everyone.
Coming up with venues, calendars, schedules, transport, hotel, payment methods for the artists, and all of the logistics that go along with creating a 3-act concert tour of say 5-10 shows in 4-6 different states takes a minute - - it in fact will take a good minute. I will need to get a few commitments soon so I can get started. If I don't get started before the first of November, I'd have to push my dates to the first of May and that's not going to work for me because that's when I've decided to move to Scotland on a permanent basis. I'm not going to book UK bands in the US if I'm going to be living in Scotland. Sorry, it's just not going to happen. I won't hold anything against anyone for not seeing things my way, it's never been about my way, it's always been about WHAT IF and I BET I CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN. I'm never one to force my way on anyone. If they don't agree with me, I simply nod, shake their hand, walk away and do what I do best -- bounce back. I never admit defeat, never back down, never stop, never give in - - but I will walk away and start over.
Planning is what I do. I am a planner. I plan for plans, and my notes have notes. I collect information, gather intel, make decisions, put things together, watch it grow, contain it, and BAM! The egg is hatched and we can all stand back and say "That was fun!" I've done this only 10,000+ times in my life, having always been the one people would come to saying "I need this...can you do it?" I rarely say no. I want the challenge, and love to serve. Service over salary every time. Money may drive other people, but not me. This fact has saved me so often! I don't care about money. I don't envy people with it. I don't chase it, I won't even ask about it most of the time. I figure you do your job the money shows up. If I like doing something I never need to be paid, I am rewarded in the event itself. I am paid by the smiles and the "wow" factor. The best things in life are not only free, but you give them away.
Decision making isn't hard to do once you get the hang of it. You just have to be willing to fall on your face a few thousand times, and be able to stand up, dust off, and run straight into it again and again until you figure it out. What's to lose? What's that Teddy Roosevelt said,
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
That about covers it.
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