You may remember that we painted our front door yellow this past fall. After the painter completed his work on the exterior of our home we had him paint the inside of the house too. It was quite an experience.

First our painter and his guy moved the kitchen furniture into the living room. Then the office furniture went into the bedroom and followed by both rooms being moved into the family room. Well, that’s not the real sequence, but you get the idea. Suffice to say it was quite a jigsaw puzzle. But that wasn’t the worst part. The hardest aspect of the project was selecting the paint colors for each area.

Paint color choices aren’t easy, are they? At first I thought it was fun. Then I became completely overwhelmed by all of the color samples, swatches and internet palettes. Did you know that there are people who make a living by providing color choice advice? Sounds like a good idea; however, our budget did not include color consultation costs. We’ve known our painter for many years and I knew he would stop me from making choices that I would regret.

I found myself agonizing over my selections. Frequently, I went to bed believing that I had my final colors pinned down, only to wake up and wonder what I had been thinking the night before??!! I even bought little sample cans and was convinced that one of them contained just the perfect shade. When Steve saw what I was about to do with those mini cans, he asked me if I was sure I wanted to look at an assortment of different paint splotches all over the house. I assured him that I was perfectly fine with it. As it turned out, I was not. Those dabs drove me crazy until they finally got covered with the new paint.

I’ve had other kinds of decisions to make in the last year. I have been faced with some tough personal and health related questions. Should I take a new MS drug? Would it be wise to see a pain doc? Could I handle what a pain specialist might tell me? Is it a good idea to use a wheelchair in certain situations? Do I feel confident enough to drive? Can I do an overnight trip with my girlfriends? Do I have the strength and motivation needed to return to physical therapy?

Both kinds of decisions required careful consideration. After much pondering I finally reached a decision on all of the paint colors. Just like the yellow door, I am quite happy with how it all turned out.

My personal decisions were difficult and I did a lot of soul searching. As tough as some of them were, I feel very confident that I made the right choices for me. My judgments have lead to good experiences and promising results. It feels good to see things going in a positive direction after the challenges I have faced in the last year or two.

All of us face decisions each and every day. Some are easy, some are tough. Right now, as I look out my window at the falling snow it is a very easy decision to stay inside! Be safe and warm.