By Professor Caverna – OPINION
From the moment we are born, we are faced with choices. At first, they are made by other people: our parents choose our name, what we will wear, what we will eat. But as we grow up, we take control of our own lives. And then, my dear human, the endless game of decisions begins.
The Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, back in the 19th century, already understood this. He said that life is made up of choices and that, with each decision, we shape who we are. For him, there is no escaping it: choosing is both a burden and a blessing. After all, not choosing is already a choice. And that is where the big catch of existence lies.
Imagine you’re in a self-service restaurant. You look at all that food and need to decide what to put on your plate. It seems simple, right? But in real life, it’s as if each choice is an ingredient that defines the flavor of your story. Go easy on the wrong seasoning and you might end up with an indigestible dish. And, according to Kierkegaard, the big problem is that we never know exactly what will happen after we make a decision. This dilemma is what he calls the “anguish of choice.” Each decision opens one door and closes another. Choosing to follow one path means giving up another. And that’s when that fear of making the wrong choice sets in. Whoever has never gotten stuck when making an important decision, cast the first stone!
Kierkegaard divided life into three main stages: aesthetic, ethical and religious. Each stage represents a type of choice that we make throughout our lives. In the Aesthetic Stage, people seek pleasure, fun and avoid anything that causes suffering. It’s the famous “let life take me”. People choose the easiest path, without worrying about major responsibilities. The problem? At some point, emptiness sets in, because living only in hedonism does not fulfill the soul. In the Ethical Stage, people realize that life needs meaning. They start to make more conscious choices, taking values and principles into account. This is the stage of responsibility, where people stop acting on impulse and start to think about the consequences of their actions. But even here, there are still doubts and questions. In the Religious Stage, it has nothing to do with following a specific religion, but rather with taking a leap of faith. This is the moment when people accept that not everything can be controlled and that, in order to move forward, they need to trust their own journey. Kierkegaard saw this as the highest stage, where we finally find a real purpose in life.
If you've ever found yourself paralyzed by a difficult decision, welcome to the club! The thinker said that anguish is natural and part of the process. The problem is that many people try to escape it. How? By clinging to conformism. The famous "let's leave it as it is and see how it turns out". But that's a trap! After all, not choosing is already, in itself, a choice.
Think about the classic career dilemma: follow an uncertain dream or a safer path? The answer is never obvious, because every choice has consequences. And the truth is that there is no such thing as a 100% right decision. There will always be a risk. The philosopher teaches us that the secret is not to avoid the anguish of choice, but to learn to live with it.
Ah, regret… How many times do we think, “What if I had chosen differently?” Kierkegaard says that this feeling is inevitable. There will always be paths that we don’t take. But the point is not to get stuck in the “what if…”, but to learn from each decision made. Life is a constant “work in progress”. Did you choose something and realize that it wasn’t what you wanted? That’s great, learn from it and adjust your route. The important thing is not to live on autopilot, letting life choose for you. Because, at the end of the day, our identity is built by the choices we make.
What Can We Learn from Kierkegaard? Choosing is inevitable, even when we think we are avoiding a choice, we are already making one. Anguish is part of the process, the fear of making a mistake is normal, but it should not paralyze us. Each choice defines who we are, no matter how small the decision seems, it always has an impact. Regret is inevitable, but it should not consume us, the important thing is to learn and move on. Live authentically, make choices that reflect who you really are, and not what others expect of you.
The next time you find yourself at a crossroads, remember Kierkegaard’s reflections: the anguish that accompanies each choice is the price of the freedom that allows us to build a truly unique and authentic life. See each decision as an invitation to introspection and to discover what really matters.
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Note: Dear reader, the objective here is to stimulate your philosophical reflection, nothing more! nothing more!
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