444. Practical Choices

When I discover an important need in myself or in another person, I feel I must do something to meet it. There might be many possible actions that could meet the need, which means I will have to choose between them. If I’ve seen this particular need before, I might already intuit how it can best be met. But when the need is new to me, I will have to use reason and imagination to discover what I might do.

Some of the options that I think up might seem to meet the need more fully than others. Such a benefit will weigh heavily in any consideration of the options. But I need to keep in mind that any benefit I project using my imagination and reason is always only a potential benefit. I do not yet know what actual benefit would be realized by each option.

I must remember this, because there might also be options that promise to meet the need perfectly, but they are not feasible. If I choose something that I cannot actually do, I might fail to meet the need entirely. There will always be this element of risk, since any untried possibility has a less than certain likelihood of success.

Still, I must choose, and I must choose an option that enables action. For compassion is never merely theoretical — it is always substantive action to meet needs. I cannot allow myself to be distracted by impractical solutions that are unlikely to meet the need, just because these solutions are more perfect or more aligned with my beliefs and values.

My choice must be a practical one, and this means I need to rely on my awareness. While reason and imagination can provide me with options, it is the intuitions that arise from awareness that must guide my choice. I must choose even though doubts remain, because it is this intuitive best that also has the best chance of actually meeting the need.