It is important for us to learn and practice making good decisions on a daily basis. Making good decisions can help prevent a person from committing criminal acts, being arrested and sent to prison or being sentenced to Probation. When a Probationer is given a Probation Order sometimes it states that he/she should receive counseling in decision-making.

Each Probationer is assessed when sentenced to Probation and often times it is found that he/she needs assistance with decision-making. Decision-Making is only one of the programmes available to Probationers. Everyone makes mistakes but we should learn from those mistakes in order to make better decisions.

It is important to remember that everyday we make hundreds of decisions. Some are simple and relatively easy and some are hard or very difficult. Some require a lot of soul searching and some you can make at a snap of the fingers. Be that as it may, making good decisions is “Key” as they will determine to a large extent our success in life. It may seem like some of the decisions you have to make about your life right now won’t matter that much, but later on they might make a far bigger impact than you may imagine. It is easy to get overwhelmed when you have a decision to make. You may be even tempted to say, “Whatever” or the first thing that comes to mind just to get over with it, but bad decisions can have negative effects on our lives for years to come so it is vital that we make good decisions. To choose not to make a decision is actually making one.
If you have difficulties making decisions, the following can help you think though decisions whether they are big, small, easy or hard:
• Aware - identify the decision you have to make
• Brainstorm - think of all the different answers you could give to that particular decision. What are the various choices that you could make?
• Consequences - figure out what may happen if you make one choice or another. Are they good (pros) or bad (cons)? Which choice will gives you more good things? Choose that one
• Decide - make an actual decision
• Evaluate - look back and figure out whether you made a good decision. If you made the wrong decision what can you do differently if you are faced with the same decision again?

The fictional poem below was written by an adult probationer to indicate a decision someone had to make.

My Precious Ring

As I stand in the window to wait and see
A precious stone looking at me
The money I don’t have to get it
But I know if I steal it, I will regret it

The spark lit my eyes as it glistened and shine
The store clerk watched me and asked if I wanted to come inside
I nodded and said no, and went on my way
But that stone I thought of everyday

I spoke to my friend and she decided I should steal
But I thought on my decision and decided I should not take the deal
I think of the outcome both bad and good
But as I reached my final decision I know I shouldn’t

As she put the fact that I needed that precious gem
I realized that if I got caught I would go straight in the pen
I figured to myself if I am worth more than that and I realized that I will never get my life back

So I made my one and only last decision
And realized that my thought was about to become my action
I called my friend up and told her no
She told me I don’t know what I missing
And I told her I don’t wanna know

Did I make the right decision? My answer to you would be yes
Because I know that if I did it I would be ashamed and stressed
I was taught about the good values of my life
And I will work to get that ring.

As days went by and also weeks
I finally saved enough money to be happy
I went to the store and asked the price of the ring
And to my surprise I had the right cha-ching

As she placed it on my finger it felt good
To see I worked hard for it, the way I should
The lady asked me if I wanted it
I smiled and told her yes I did, and I’m so blessed.

Done by L.R

Next week’s article will focus on the Probation experience of a past Probationer.

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