Ameet+R’s+Final+AmEx+2015+Speech


 * The Detrimental Impact of Indecision **

I don’t know what to do. This simple statement quickly identifies how many of us face the problems in our lives... myself included. We sit there and think about it. We may know the answer, but we still ponder over it. We scrutinize small details before we can make up our mind to talk to that cute girl or take that class or ask for that promotion. This over scrutiny creates an environment where we limit ourselves from being all we can be. Indecision stems from fear. A fear of failure. A fear of making the wrong decision. Or maybe a fear of disappointing others. We can be afraid to choose a college or a major because we are afraid that we will choose the wrong one. We can be afraid of asking out that girl/guy because it might ruin your friendship. We can even be afraid of disappointing our friends or family if we decide to go to art school instead of Medical School.

So, yeah... choices are hard. However, that does not mean that we shouldn’t make these choices. If we all just never made up our minds about a problem and just stayed indecisive, the world would never progress. YOUR life would never progress.

I’m sure many of you had impediments on your path to AP and honors classes. However, you were all able to make this decision. Yes, like everything else in life, taking AP was a decision. I’m sure many of you had friends who were in CP classes and wanted to be with your friends. I’m sure some of you struggled with the decision to take AP. Didn’t the choice you made pay off? Don’t you appreciate the knowledge and tools for success AMEX has given every single one of you?

It is these choices that push the world forward. The choices that form the person you are. Choices give us our sense of self. They define who we are as a person and who we want to become. So, then if we all become indecisive due to fear, what happens to our generation? As society as a whole? We become a “lost generation”. We would have no sense of self and no significant future as a whole.

Let me share with you a story of a close friend. Around this time last year, she had a choice. Due to a scheduling conflict, she was unable to take AP Art if she wanted to take AP Chemistry. She had to choose between her passion and her parent’s expectation of academic achievement. Her fear of disappointing her parents prevented her from making a true decision, even though she knew the decision that she needed in her life. Instead of following her passion, she stayed indecisive. She stayed indecisive and cost herself an opportunity. Her parents eventually stepped and made the decision for her. Now, after suffering through a year of AP Chemistry, she regrets it. Art was her safe place; her haven. She doesn’t know what to do with her life anymore. She doesn’t know what she wants to major in anymore. She has lost motivation. Now, many of you may be asking how one class could play such a huge role in a person’s life. Well, for her, this seemingly miniscule lack of decision cost her a great deal. She was not in control of her life then. Since then, she has lost sight of her life as it was. Through her indecision, she lost control of her life and lost sight of her future. She lost touch with her passion and therefore lost touch with herself.

When you refuse to make a decision, you refuse yourself an opportunity. The longer you sit on a fence pondering a decision, the longer you rob yourself of a possible life-altering opportunity. This can last until you are robbed of the opportunity forever and maybe it wasn’t something you wanted to take part in or actually do. However, even so, it was not a decision that you came to. It was a choice made for you because you couldn’t make up your mind. In order to gain complete control of your life, you MUST be able to make decisions.

In the America I want to live in, indecisiveness won’t be a problem. People would be confident in themselves and the decision that they believe in. They wouldn’t allow fear from external places to stop them from making their own decision. Just remember, you are your own person. You know what is right for you, even if you think you don’t. You are capable of making the right decision. Just make sure that it is you making the decision and not your fear because “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” (FDR). Fear is a powerful thing. However, if you are more powerful and rise above yourself, you can make the right decision. Don’t allow indecision to get the best of you. As Shia LaBeouf and Nike said, "Just do it!"

** Works Cited **

""Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": FDR's First Inaugural Address." "Only Thing We Have to Fear Is Fear Itself": FDR's First Inaugural Address. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 June 2015. .

"Seven Ways To Conquer Indecision." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, n.d. Web. 03 June 2015 .

"Shia LaBeouf-motivation." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 05 June 2015. .