Jaime Gonzalez

President El Paso Association of Builders

Like I said in my first message to you , Life is Great ! And I truly believe that everything we do in life is affected by how we look at it . Is the glass half full ? Or half empty ? However , an optimistic outlook on life , doesn ’ t relieve us from occasionally having to make tough decisions . These are never fun , but how we address them shapes the outcome . Anyone that has raised children understands that sometimes the right choice is often the hardest one . I came across a quote by Jerzy Gregorek . “ Hard choices , easy life . Easy choices , hard life .” The choice is hard because it involves many factors that need to be taken into account .

There are uncertain consequences and risk to consider . Often , we are dealing with feelings and emotions . Sometimes it might even involve a moral or ethical dilemma . The choices that are usually the hardest are the ones that will significantly affect our future or the future of others we care about . In the adventure of being a small business owner , I find that the lines between worklife decisions and family-life decisions often get blurred and intertwined . What happens in one side usually affects the other . Decisions have to be made , not just for immediate results , but also considering long term impacts on our families , businesses , employees , and our customers .

Previously , I discussed the importance of getting involved and mentioned the concept of making choices by default . Postponing a tough decision is , in itself , a decision . If you are at the point where you need to make a hard choice , but you chose to postpone it , you are still making it . In the long run , it is better to act and make the decision than it is to avoid it and let others decide for you . Unfortunately , there is often no clear answer as to which of the hard choices is the correct one . Making the hard choice is never , well , easy . But it is through these decisions that we have the ability to influence what happens in our life and hopefully get us closer to our goals .