February 4, 2022 | LIFE | By Mahnoor Rehman
Having choices can be both helpful as well as challenging. On one hand, having a pile of opportunities that you can take advantage of to create exciting experiences for yourself is amazing. On the other hand, for people who struggle to make decisions daily, which means people like me, a variety of choices can easily become a curse that leaves you pondering minor details for hours.
Indecision can be a huge struggle. One could argue that, due to the increasingly present emphasis on individualism and the right of choice, Millennials are the most indecisive generation. I would say that Gen Z is not far behind.
As we move forward in this decade, opportunities, services, jobs, discourses, and fields of study are more abundant than ever. Not to mention, the privilege of people and communities is significant in deciding who gets to choose and what they get to choose.
I have been indecisive about almost all my decisions for as long as I can remember. It is always strange for me to see people my age making consistent, concrete decisions without hesitation. I wish I had similar motivations and commitment skills to stick my mind to a single decision.
Overthinking goes hand in hand with indecisiveness. Oftentimes, after I finish making a decision, I find myself overthinking the ways in which the possible consequences of that decision can impact me negatively. While those consequences are quite far ahead and in my experience the probability of something extremely bad happening is usually quite low, I feel it is unfair how much overthinking can affect my mental health.
Studying at a liberal arts school is wonderful for anyone who finds it difficult to choose a major at the start of college. It is so useful to have the freedom to enroll in classes within distinct departments before making an informed decision about your specific path of studies.
Although this process of interdisciplinary learning might seem really fun and interactive at first, it can also be immensely taxing and demanding with all the layers of anxieties attached to eventually making a decision about your major.
It is impossible to find a universal answer to indecisiveness, as the importance of a decision also depends on one’s individual identity and background.
For some people, the decision might just be about what feels right for them and what is the most rewarding and enjoyable major. On the other side, some folks must be extremely careful because their housing, jobs, and possible future career depends on their major.
Being an undergraduate student in the contemporary world has its own pros and cons. Indecision can definitely manifest itself in our lives at college with almost all decisions regarding studies, jobs, or housing. It is perfectly fine to feel some sort of satisfaction and validation knowing that we are not alone but instead a collective community of people who are indecisive about so much in life.