When there is a desire, a decision follows. A desire is primitive and is naturally driven by emotions. That’s the basement of a human being as a creature. To prevent the disaster that humans are unable to bear, rationality was introduced as a development of civilization.
If we examine the rationality in history, Max Weber contributed the concept of rationality, derived from the Protestant Ethic, as a key factor in the later rise of capitalism, which led to modernity. Briefly, from a macro perspective on the world's development, rationality stimulates growth. Then, from micro, it works for human beings, as individuals, as well.
Different people make decisions from various perspectives, based on their own experience and cognition. It’s very interesting. Sometimes, people will repeatedly examine their decision for a long time. It happens when people are in an unsure state; some are influenced by outside voices, some are a bit afraid of taking the new adventure. And the funny thing is, sometimes, a big decision might be made by accident. However, it is still an outcome of the previous accumulation of hesitation, of thinking, of experience. Even though it’s provisional, it’s actually long-planned.
Therefore, a human’s behaviour is a direct representation of their decision-making system, a system working on how they deal with the relationships between self and outside, between desire and limitation. The essence of general suffering is that when a system keeps making errors, but the one who has access to the system has no idea how to deal with the errors. The happiness of a human being is rooted in how they deal with the system overall.
A decision is everywhere, from daily consumption to life's most significant issues, such as where to live, what to do for a living, who to love, how much you need, and what kind of person you want to be. Generally, for the majority, those can be concluded into the backgrounds: university, job/income, residence, partner/family, and house. If in China, there will be one more ridiculous extra, Hukou. Those five indices are among the most important decisions for many people, which means they can be enough to trap a person if they are taken as a measure of success.
However, there is a cruel fact: success, which can be widely acknowledged, doesn’t equal happiness. People often hold the belief that as long as I am successful, I will be happy. A long-lasting happiness roots in autonomy. A decision is a practice of autonomy. So, there is actually another fact: there are numerous practices of autonomy every day, but why are people still unhappy? Because they concede their autonomy. In a social view, people know the value of freedom, so there is “Liberty Leading the People”. They fight for society, whereas, for themselves, they have “The Fear of Freedom”.
Consequently, if the political system is a structure for fundamental liberty, then a decision-making system for the self is a basis for autonomy.
Here is a practical question: how to make a decision, to practice autonomy? As we know from the previous, a decision is an outcome of how to deal with desire and limitation. The decision is actually about delimitation, which means making limits on everything related. As a result, be clear about your desire, from where the desire is, to how much your desire is; then, limitation, from self-position, where is the affordable, to how much you are willing to afford.
Unless something threatens life, nothing is an emergency, which means it can be restarted even if you failed. It is the life that is unable to be reborn. Which is fair, if everyone is willing to look at themselves, just for a while in their entire life, such a time is enough for everyone. Fair and equal are relatively similar to suffering and happiness. There are no standards; they all depend on the person themselves about the balance of desire and limitation. Maybe the indices are similar, but the dose depends on individuals. That’s how we call it, everyone is different.
Moreover, there is a universally acknowledged view that timing is essential. For example, there are some good timing, opportunities, and luck; if they miss them, then they are far away from achieving success smoothly. It’s also true. That’s a flexibility in the relationship between self and outside world. If there is, and you are able to take a ride, take it; if not, wait for the next one, or find your own way to create one. Never complain about the missing; never be afraid of losing.
Simply, to practice and realize autonomy, a decision shouldn’t be based on “should,” but rather on “want” and “don’t want”. A “should” is a politically right, fully based on rationality, or a voice from outside as pressure, which is dull. A “want” is a motivation, a “don’t want” is a push to change. The secret to being alive is taking an adventure in exploring something you want, and generally it’s in uncertainty; that’s where the happiness is. Another secret is to protect yourself from being shut down to sustain your adventure; that’s where rationality serves.