Enlightenment

The script for a video that I made for English class. Talks about decisions, specifically towards adolescents.

Honestly, I’ve spent so long trying to find a topic, that I think the best way for me to do this is to just sit here and talk for a bit. 

I should talk about something that I love, right? Something that enables me to speak about it endlessly. 

I know that right now I love this tea, because it’s warm, and it’s keeping me calm, and it’s nice to be warm and calm when it’s exactly the opposite outside. 

If I wanted to do a presentation on this tea, I could even tell a story about that time when I was just a kid, trying to have tea parties with my grandma, when she new I hated the bitter taste of the drink that surrounded that idea. 

I hated the taste, but I drank it anyway because I loved who made it for me.

But I don’t love this tea always. I don’t love it when it’s all sunny and warm outside. Maybe I’d prefer iced tea, but it’s still not the same as the former option.

I’ve been comparing this a lot to the way we make decisions, in general. You see, kind of like tea vs. iced tea, being afraid to voice your opinions is one thing, voicing them in the way that you didn’t originally intend is another. 

Sometimes I overthink things…okay, I always overthink things. 

My brain is constantly cluttered with thoughts that don’t necessarily need to be there. In fact, they shouldn’t be there. It freaks me out sometimes, all of the endless possibilities. The outcomes that can happen if I make the wrong decision, turn right instead of left. 

I feel like this is because I tend to make the wrong decision. Or, in my life what I may consider to be the “wrong” decision. In reality, I know that everything happens for a reason, and that what happens should always lead up to something better. The climax of my life, so to say. 

But what if that doesn’t happen? What if there is no climax in my life? See, that’s crazy to think, normally, but the thing is decisions freak me out. They always have. I tend to run from them now, which is probably the WORST possible decision. The decision to not make any decision is also a decision in itself. The only bad decision in reality is to not make one.

Back to tea vs. iced tea, one of the biggest decisions that an adolescent will have to make is choosing a career path. Now, there’s the basics…doctor, lawyer, veterinarian, teacher, etc…the thing’s that stereotypically are chosen to pursue, which makes sense considering the fact that they all are extremely beneficial. And then there are those of us who want to be musicians, or actors, or artists, or anything that contains the idea of being extensively creative, which is amazing also, but involves a lot of work and risk. 

It’s extremely stressful to pick just one thing to do for the rest of your life, especially when you’re more than one thing. Such as if you’re academic and athletic, or musical and athletic, or academic and musical.

When I was little, I would see shows on TV depicting children who wanted to be astronaut-doctor-lawyers who also want to cook gourmet meals on the side. When those children grow up, they realize how truly unrealistic that idea is. I mean, there is absolutely no way that you can be in space AND be prepared to save lives…I mean, unless you’re Chris Hadfield, of course.

What I’ve recently realized, though, is that if you work hard enough at anything, you will get there. The overthinking complex is the only thing that really ruins any of that…questioning whether or not all of the things that you’re interested in will work out. If you question yourself at all, you won’t be able to achieve your end goal. Anything is possible, if you put your mind to it, but if you doubt yourself, you won’t be working as hard as you could be. If you have the mindset of failure in your brain, it’s harder to get your feet off the ground, and get to where you want to go.

The only bad decision in reality is to not make one. If you don’t start walking, you’ll never learn how to run. You have to start somewhere. 

So I’m starting here…because procrastination and overthinking are too much of a safe place, and I want to start exploring.

Author's Note

Consider the context, it is the script for a video. I'm sitting holding tea.

Reviews

[JoeM]

I think it is a good way to sort one's thoughts out, anyway. It should work as a script, cos it would work in life.
Although trite, no decision is a decision.

[Chris]

Beginnings are the reality of "becoming" who we are meant to be.