On Proactivity: an addendum

Not long ago I wrote about proactivity, calling it the symbiosis of choice and committment, which I maintain.

Today I'd like to add a new element to my definition - the spark. Last time I called proactivity the Big Bang of human behavior, something where there could have been nothing, and the spark is what starts it.

Choice, I said, has to be between ambiguous options, otherwise it is only reason. And I now add that in order for a choice to be proactive, there must not be an external impetus to make that choice. Just as a choice must be somewhat arbitrary in order to be a proactive choice, it also cannot be compulsory. You have to, you know, choose to choose.

For instance, when I was choosing colleges it came down to a small, private, Christian school and a large public school, each in a different city where I had never lived. Where would I most enjoy spending four (or so) years? Which institution would bring me closer to those ethereal 'goals' that I was to be formulating? Looking at colleges from outside, from below, I had no way to answer these questions - my options were ambiguous.

But my choice was not proactive.

At that stage in my life I had no choice but to choose, if you will. I was compelled to choose between the two schools (by things like assumptions, society, [ahem] parents). So even though I chose between ambiguous options and committed to that choice, I was not proactive.

However, if today I choose between two schools and commit to one of them, it will be a proactive choice. I no longer have to go to school. Today, it takes the spark.

Hopefully soon I'll have time to combine my ideas about proactivity with my ideas of priority and sacrifice. Here's working towards a comprehensive theory of living!