47 Meters Down

A friend suggested that we see a movie, so my wife and I joined him. To be perfectly honest, I had no intention of watching this particular movie. I held very low expectations for it.  The movie was not as bad as I believed it would be. It was, however, very predictable as most movies of this genre appear to be.

As the movie progresses, it is abundantly clear that the reason for the main characters to be in such a bad situation is because of a ridiculous motive. Once they started on this expedition, one bad decision after another created more hazards. At some point, you hoped the characters would at least make one sound decision and not respond out of fear every time. This would not be the case. It actually got to the point where I began wishing that more bad things would happen because, with the decision-making, they must have wanted more terror. If only they would have listened to the simple directions, they were given.

Sometimes we make decisions based on the wrong motivation. We may be trying to impress someone. We may be trying to feel better about ourselves. We may even make a decision just because we do not know what else to do. Before making any decision, ask yourself, “Why am I doing this?” If the answer you give yourself seems to be a shaky excuse, you may want to rethink your path before taking the first step.

Some situations look bad before we get into them. Avoid bad situations. We put ourselves in harm’s way by being at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people. Investigate your path before starting it. Understand the dangers and what to do if more arise. 

Fear is also a problem. When we start making decisions based on fear, we tend to make the wrong decisions. You can always plan for problems to arrive, but we should base most of our decisions on a positive outcome. Expecting bad things to happen normally result in bad things happening. Obviously, even the best-laid plans can result in failure, but as plans fail, then we can adjust. Fear causes us to adjust before they fail and more often than not, lead to failure.

Just like in the movie, listening to sound advice is the way to go. Obeying it is even more important. Not every decision we make is life threatening, but following directions can save you from many terrible outcomes. The “I’ll do it my way” approach rarely works when you are out of your experience level. Listen to people who know. Follow their lead. Make sure you trust the person to whose advice you are taking.

While the saying “Doing something is better than doing nothing” has some credible thinking behind it, doing the wrong thing can have some incredible consequences. Do not be afraid to do something, but plan and do the right thing. Do not let fear hold you back. More importantly, do not let fear guide your decisions.