Please select the best possible answer from the choices provided.

About two months ago, I started reading "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. I had just finished her other novel “Sharp Objects,” and I was reluctant to read the same author back to back because I usually begin to find myself annoyed with the predictability of the writing style.  I was also reluctant to begin reading this second novel because I wasn’t all that impressed with the execution of the first. Nevertheless, I had already purchased both kindle copies, so I decided to ignore the little voice inside my head telling me to proceed with caution and just cannonball it.  As it turns out, I never got far enough into the book to notice the repetitiveness of the writing or to find out how she executed her “A-ha!” moment in the end. Why? Multiple choice. 

In an effort to introduce the reader to a female character, this writer decided to embed multiple choice questions throughout the first few chapters. Oh, I get it. Amy uses multiple choice to decide her future. That’s how we got to where the characters are today. Brilliant! No. Thank you for playing. I’m going to need to tap out now.  I decided that it wasn’t cute and was a waste of my time.  I closed that kindle book, went to Wikipedia to see how it ended, rolled my eyes at what I saw, and didn’t think of it again until today.

I woke up this morning cursing the day that multiple choice questions ever dared burden this earth. How is it that a few wrong bubbles on a multiple choice scantron have held my life hostage for long? I’ve always sucked at multiple choice.  Do I expect that to be any different this next time?  Blah. Blah. Insert various other whining cliches here.

When my pity party was over and I finally crawled out of bed, I realized that Gillian Flynn wasn’t so ridiculous after all. Life is a series of multiple choice questions.

What do I want to eat for breakfast today?
A. Oatmeal
B. Eggs
C. Bacon
D. Protein shake
E. A, B, and C but not D

(Psst...the answer is always C.)

How annoying was that to read? Okay, so Gillian Flynn only had the concept right. We do make decisions by weighing them against other available options. If we didn’t have more than one option, it would just be THE WAY. 

All we can do is go through life trying to pick the best possible answer from a bunch of potentially right ones. We also have to hope that we don’t select too many of the slightly less right answers along the way and waste more time with all of life’s roadblocks.