For humans, making a choice is a cognitive process that begins at birth.

Should I cry or smile?

For most of us, the day begins with an alarm.

Get up, or turn it off and go back to sleep?

‘Choice’ is a cognitive process in the frontal lobe of our brains that controls emotions, character, decision-making, and reasoning. It’s part of the brain’s cerebral cortex. When your mom forces you to wear a bike helmet, she wasn’t trying to embarrass you, this is what she was protecting.

Engage in an argument, or roll your eyes?

Real Christmas tree or artificial?

The average baby’s brain is about a quarter of the average adult’s brain when born. It will double in size during its first year and grow to about eighty percent of adult size by age three. By age five, ninety percent of the brain will develop.

Sugar of substitute?

Shih Tsu or Saint Bernard?

In the US, we can make our own legal choices at eighteen years of age in most states. Although developmentally, the rational part of a teen’s brain won’t be ready until he’s twenty-five, full maturity is not acquired until they approach the third decade of life. That is when the cerebral cortex ends. This sheds light on the dating years.

Carmel Frappuccino or Pumpkin Spice Latte?

French manicure or Big Apple Red?

Scientists say there are four steps in making one choice. The first is introducing stimuli to the brain’s sensory components. Next, secondary motivations arrive in a part of the brain called the hippocampus, which is also on the decision-making team. The third step is when the two stages of stimuli recognize each other. And step four happens when the choice happens. Research states that most choices aren’t made logically but involve emotion or evolve unconsciously.

A lite salad or a carb fest?

Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen?

In life, we can’t always, okay hardly ever, choose our surroundings or circumstances. But you CAN select our state of mind. Why not try happy? It takes eleven muscles to scowl and only one more to smile, and smiling helps prevent wrinkles. So, tomorrow when your alarm clock sounds, choose joy!

You matter to me. Let me know what you think.

Always, Lori