An open option often feels reassuring. There is still time to change direction, take another opportunity or wait for more information.
Sometimes, however, keeping an option open requires constant attention. A person follows it, reserves time and leaves other things waiting, even when they no longer really want to choose it.
What does the open door cost?
I think options deserve assessing partly through the effort of maintaining them. Not every open door is free. It can consume time, tie up commitments or blur a direction already chosen.
Imagine two attractive projects needing the same time. Letting one go does not mean it is bad. It can give the other a genuine chance to succeed.
A choice does not need the alternatives to be declared worthless in order to have value.
Enough information, a clear decision
Doors should not always be closed early. Reflection, experiments and new information need room. Yet the purpose of deliberation can also be examined: what else is needed for the decision, and when will it be revisited?
I see commitment as one way of using freedom. Something important receives time that continual monitoring of alternatives might otherwise consume.
Which opportunity deserves a genuine yes now? That may also involve a respectful no to another good possibility.
