Skydiving or Crocodile Hunting?

With a gun to your head, would you jump out of a perfectly good airplane or try to be the Crocodile Hunter for a day? I've been watching "The Bucket List", and this seems like the kind of decision those two guys would make. Actually, they would probably choose both.

With a gun to my head, I'd be a crocodile hunter.

Death Penalty?

With a gun to your head, would you choose the death penalty for someone or allow them to live? My upbringing would lead me to choose the death penalty, but I know deep down I couldn't make a choice to end someone else's life. God is our judge.

Note: I know that this post would probably work better being "With a gun to someone's head...", but I'm not changing the name of the blog.

You or Family?

With a gun to your head, would you choose the life of a family member or yourself? I had to face this in a way a few years ago. Someone attacked my brother, and before I had time to think (which I had thought, but on a totally subconscious level), I was attacking the man attacking my brother. I have a lot of pain associated with the event, but in some ways, it was the proudest moment of my life.It's part of the reason I write this blog. So, with a gun to my head, I would choose family.

Aikman or Romo?

With a gun to your head, would you choose Troy Aikman or Tony Romo to quarterback the Dallas Cowboys? With a gun to my head, I'd go with Romo. It's early in his career, but that was my gut reaction.

Fight or Reason?

With a gun to your head, would you fight back or try to reason it out? I've thought about this a lot, and I've never had a gun to my head, but I know that in other instances in my life where I've been threatened, I've fought back. Again, no one had a gun to my head, but if they did, my instinct is to fight.

Time or Money?

With a gun to your head, would you choose a $30,000/year job, which allows you all the time with your family and time for yourself? Or would you choose a $70,000/year job, which allows you and your family security and financial flexibility? Both are common and good choices, but if I had a gun to my head I would go with the first.

Taco or Burrito?

With a gun to my head, I'd have to go with tacos. I really seem to like burritos better, but tacos was my gut reaction.

Mom or Dad?

With a gun to my head, I'd have to go with Mom. She was around more than Dad, and I'm really closer to my stepdad than I was my dad. Happy Father's Day!

Lakers or Celtics?

With a gun to my head, Celtics. I liked Bird better than Magic.

A Gun to my Head

With a gun to my head, I would...

I hear guys playing this game all time. In the information age we live in, few of us men can make a decision quickly and confidently. I can't, but with a gun to my head I could. With a gun to my head, I could make that decision, whatever it may be, without hesitation. I think this reveals so much about our values: what would we do if we just made the split decision that we have programmed ourselves to make. I don't want a gun to my head, EVER, but I do want to make decisions quickly and confidently.

I read a couple of books that really influenced me toward this type of decision-making. The first was Wild at Heart by John Eldredge, available on Amazon.com. Wild at Heart is about discovering the passion that you were created with as a man. I read it a couple of years ago and really felt like the author could see the uncertainty in me. The next book was Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, also available on Amazon.com. Blink studies how important our split-second reactions are and what they tell us about ourselves. I am a basketball coach, and my entire living is based on making quick decisions.

Before the books, I watched a film that changed my life and the way I think. Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton, actually begins with Pitt holding a gun to Norton's head, which is a metaphor to how their characters will live during the entire story. I wanted to be Tyler Durden (Pitt's character) because he was so free and confident in his life.

So, I'm going to try to use this blog to find out what men would do "with a gun to my head". Sometimes my questions will be serious and sometimes stupid, but I think the more we practice this way of thinking, the better we will be at making those quick decisions.

Please:
1. Post your responses in the comments.
2. Answer the poll questions.
3. Suggest new to ideas for daily topics.