If you haven’t gotten the word by now, this has been a bittersweet year. I employed an astonishing amount of willpower early in the year, and thusly exhausted my reserves! So around January my willpower began to wane and a very astute friend of mine noticed. On a walk she said to me, “Anna, you need a magic 8 ball to make your decisions for you… wait, what are the responses on the 8 ball?” For those of you who weren’t paying close attention in the 80s, the sage responses were as follows:
- It is certain
- It is decidedly so
- Without a doubt
- Yes definitely
- You may rely on it
- As I see it, yes
- Most likely
- Outlook good
- Yes
- Signs point to yes
- Reply hazy try again
- Ask again later
- Better not tell you now
- Cannot predict now
- Concentrate and ask again
- Don’t count on it
- My reply is no
- My sources say no
- Outlook not so good
- Very doubtful
Now this friend of mine is wiser than her years and immediately recognized that there were far too many yes-based answers. At that point she began scheming. About a week later she showed up at my door and handed me a bag of Rolos which has already been opened. This bag was deemed “Rolo Decision Tool” and I was instructed to consult RDT every time I had a major life decision to make. As you can see, she solved the problem of too many yes’s on a magic 8 ball:
In the most scintillating and elegant psychologic experiment of the year, the results were astonishingly in favor of the decision: No! I actually would think up an idea, sit down an eat a Rolo, ponder the wrapper, and say to myself, No! Unfortunately the Rolos ran out long before my willpower was repleted and I have been struggling with sound decision making ever since. Luckily the instructions for use of the Rolo Decision Tool remain on paper…
… and forever in my heart. Thanks, Liz.
