Rewritten due to the inspirational Weekly Writing Challenge:

1223 words –> 288 (to read the fleshed out post, click here)

Driven by societal norms, we constantly prematurely make up our minds, arguing for what we believe we believe. But we forget the importance of reflection.

I regret saying or doing wrong, due to incomplete decisions. Passion is a double-edged sword. It gives us reason to overcome obstacles, and it drives us tirelessly.

But when we get riled up, we tend to get carried away, and soon enough, we’ve let something ground-breaking slip, or we’ve done something regretful.

“Yolo-ing” is overrated. There’s normally not much of a deadline to meet, and we normally have an undefined amount of time to make up our minds, so we should utilize that.

Moreover, taking risks should not always be encouraged; other people are inevitably involved. The danger lies in unconditionality: the perception that we  will always support what we say and do. We’d better think long and hard about what others see, lest we confront confusion and misinterpretation.

Reflection occurs during a long car ride, or in the moments before our minds wander off to sleep. It also occurs in groups, supplemented with external opinions. It can even be augmented with research and evidence.

My opinion is the middle ground: reflect, and pinpoint exactly what you believe before you fight for it. Before you let an emotional and visual video about polar bears in the Arctic determine your approach to climate change, read up about the myths of global warming (an excellent example of research reflection).

When we eventually vote, we can’t rely on our gut; we’ve got to decide our priorities and solidify our opinions, especially if we’ve got a duty to a community.