Buridan's Donkey

Buridan’s Donkey is a tale about a donkey standing halfway between a pile of hay and a bucket of water.

The donkey is thirsty and hungry so it spends a moment deciding whether to go for the water or the food.

The debate rages in the donkey’s mind. Back and forth it goes.

The seconds turn into minutes. The minutes into hours. The hours into days.

The water begins to dry in the sun and the hay begins to wilt.

Still, the donkey cannot decide.

Unable to decide, the donkey collapses and dies.

With just a bit of foresight, the donkey would have realized that he could have eaten a nice meal then quenched his thirst. Or even started with the water then satiated his hunger.

The order doesn’t matter.

The moral of the story is: make a decision and act on it.

It may not be the optimal decision but by taking action you will learn.

From there, adjust course.

You will never have all of the information.

The timing will never be perfect.

You can never account for someone else’s actions, the weather, a piece of equipment, or any other external variable.

Just decide.