Even though we constantly make decisions, some are more important and have more of an impact on us than others. For this journal entry, you need to write about a critical decision that you have made sometime in the past and that has had an impact on your life. It can be a decision that has been made recently or one that was made a long time ago.

The following is a sample journal entry on a critical decision:

A Critical Decision

All of a sudden one day, I could not take any more of the weather I had lived with my entire life. The bitter cold beat mercilessly on my chapped cheeks. Laboriously struggling, I dragged my heavy boots through the packed snow and messy slush. My aggravation boiled but did not warm me. No more!! Within two weeks, my Toyota Celica was jammed with every priceless item I could not live without, my glove compartment was filled with various maps and atlases, and my loyal brother was at my side to navigate the journey. I had decided to move to Arizona and never again have to deal with inclement weather.

Luck was with me. Making such a rash decision in such a short time with such far-reaching consequences could have had tragic results. Entering the state with a master's degree, I hoped at least to be able to tutor or substitute at a college. The semester had started seven days before (not good timing), but I had high hopes. As I waited for my second interview in the Mesa Community College English Department, a woman approached me and said, "Where have you been? We've been waiting for you!" I was stunned, but I quickly accepted the position of instructor for four classes which had been held open but at that time had no instructor.

This particular decision shaped the rest of my life. My trust in intuition had outweighed my rational thinking, and I had gone "for it." Until I was able to retire, I held the same position in the same college for many years although the number and type of classes changed. This decision has proven to be the best one I have probably ever made, and it has had the most impact on my life. Although I have missed my family and friends who still live in the state I grew up in, the state of Arizona has offered the perfect climate and activities for me, and those few dreaded times when I have to brave the weather back east remind me of why I made this decision.

I never have and I am sure I never will regret my decision to leave the bitter cold winters back east and move to Mesa, Arizona in spite of the hot summers here. They are much easier to deal with. This decision has also taught to trust my instinct. Most of the time, it is right on target.