Find out more about the creator for
If You Had To Choose...?
Susan Morry her story and journey.

The following is my personal journey of how “If You Had To Choose…? A PARTY GAME THAT MAKES YOU THINK”, came to be:

Ever since I can remember I’ve had an intuitive sense of a spiritual beauty being the true essence of all things and the extreme need to express this somehow. I’ve always been a dreamer, a romantic idealist full of passion to pursue her creative ideas (and perhaps find true love along the way). But unfortunately, because of societal pressures to take the safe and practical route meaning only pursuing a career for financial security, I found myself often negating these artistic desires. I did dabble in one of my passions, filmmaking (attempting to express a “spiritual state”) but because it was so expensive and realizing that it wasn’t a “practical” way of making a living, I put it aside and spent the next few years obtaining my teaching degree and becoming a full time high-school art and English teacher.

‘Though I loved the students and was hoping my creative spirit was somehow inspiring them, I knew deep down that something was missing, that there was a void, a feeling of emptiness. I realized that there was this passion in me that was screaming to be creative and get in touch with my soul, although I wasn’t exactly sure in what way.
Ironically, I found myself sharing this dilemma in a fun way with my students by giving them a question to ponder for their journal topics. I wrote on the blackboard:
If you had to choose... would you rather (A) pursue your dreams but struggle financially your whole life, or (B) always be working at a job that doesn’t fulfill your soul but be incredibly rich?

I was amazed at the deep discussion it elicited that went on for half an hour. Also, the answer most of the students shouted out to me was, “(A) go after your dreams and never have much money!”, although a few  yelled out, “(B) Are you crazy? Go for the money!!”. I laughed and told them it was hard to know what path would lead to true happiness until they had more experience. They’re young, I thought, and smiled to myself.  Then, to my surprise the students begged me for more questions. Some of the other ones I gave them were:

If you had to choose... would you rather (A) be breathtakingly beautiful but have to go to prison for five years, or (B) always be plain looking but never go to jail?

If you had to choose... would you rather (A) always be extremely wealthy but never meet the person of your dreams, or (B) never make more than minimum wage your whole life but find true love?

If you had to choose…would you rather (A) be famous but die at 58, or (B) always be anonymous but live until 98?

If you had to choose…would you rather be (A) Martin Luther King, or (B) Elvis Presley?
The students went absolutely “crazy” for these questions because they told me that the questions made them think and discover who they really were. But also, they said, the questions made the discovering of their “authentic self” really fun as well because they were written in the style of “fantasy” as if a “fairy godmother” was going to grant them their wish but they had to first make a choice. It was then that the students and I realized that these questions which help them discover what is most important in their lives, would make a great game. It would be a way to think deeply about life but also have fun in the process: a perfect combination for students. And as students often feel a sense of alienation, the game would also allow them to interact and connect with others as well.

So ironically, the very question that I personally had been struggling with my whole life,
“If you had to choose... would you rather (A) pursue your dreams but struggle financially your whole life, or (B) always be working at job that doesn’t really fulfill your soul but be incredibly rich?”  and these wonderful students with their youthful vibrancy, subsequently answered two questions for me: It made me realize that, yes, I would rather go after my dreams and my passion of being creative which would allow me to connect with my soul and get in touch with my “authentic self” as only then would I be happy and secondly, it supplied me with what it was I could pursue to express myself: a game of  thought-provoking soul searching questions that would allow others to also get in touch with their authentic selves as well.

And, as they say, ”the rest is history” ;>). For the next fifteen years after that experience with my students around 1990 or so, I developed the game by writing approximately 700 questions all beginning with “If you had to choose…?” which ask one to choose between priorities in life such as love, money, sex, relationships, health, beauty, honesty, intelligence, freedom, spirituality etc. and then have others predict how their fellow players would answer and subsequently try and change their minds in intense discussions. During that time, I also desperately searched for financial backing. After sheer tenacity, determination, passion and facing a great many obstacles along the way, I launched my game, aptly called “If You Had To Choose…?, A PARTY GAME THAT MAKES YOU THINK” in December 2004. I’ve sold almost 7,000 games and even got the game on Amazon.com! And not only is the game being distributed to retailers but as well to schools, psychological therapy facilities and womens’ shelters. I’ve had several teachers, therapists and counselors contact me asking where they can get the game.