Indecision, wait, no, I don’t know what to call this

Original Speech by André Pintor

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So you have to deliver a speech, and you know all about it, how to talk, how to write, how to properly use ethos, pathos and logos, the audience comes first, etc. And you also know how to use metaphors and how to alter all of your arguments in an original order just to use alliteration. But that’s the easy part. The question remains: What will you talk about? That’s a great question. Because you can’t go too easy and talk about something that we debate everyday, but, also, if you pick something too underground, everyone will look dumbfounded. Say something controversial, but not too controversial, don’t be that guy. Talk about something you love, no, wait. Talk about something you hate. Because hate is the greatest fuel; once you start hating you can’t stop, everything is bad about it and it never works. Pick something young, but don’t be childish.

​This might seem very, very restrictive, but it actually isn’t. In the end, you will be stuck with a number of possible topics which fit every possible category. Those restraints put on you were the way to make you choose properly. All that is left to do is choose.

Sounds stupidly easy, doesn’t it? Just take a deep breath and say “ I’m going to talk about how … Cereal should be a soup!” I mean, think about it, you eat it with a spoon, it’s liquid with solid bits floating on it, what other things can you eat that function this way? A bowl of soup. It’s the perfect topic. Well maybe not… Maybe not… Because I don’t want my lovely audience to think that I’m a lunatic who can’t put things into their categories, I don’t want them to see me as one of those people who think that a hot dog is a sandwich. I mean, a hot dog is a hot dog, a sandwich is a sandwich. When you say “I’m going to eat a sandwich” no one thinks that you will be eating a hot dog. Well… but the same thing goes for cereal and soup… My whole topic is ruined. I can’t decide what I believe in.

I. Can’t. Decide.​

How many times have you said that in your lifetime? How many times were you stuck in the metaphysical conundrum where you have to choose between two things? How many times have you stared at the restaurant's menu and didn’t know what you wanted for dinner that day while all other guests are giving you the stink eye and the waiter is standing impatiently by your side saying “ Excuse me! Excuse me! What will you be eating?”

But I ask you! Why is it so hard for us to choose? Maybe it is because we have too much choice. Or is it because all choices are bad? Is it because we are afraid of a bad experience?

Decision making is a paradox in our lives: we hate being told what to do, don’t we? I remember one day, in my parents’ home, I was sitting on the couch, and told myself that I was going to tidy my room. I got up. I walked all the long way from the couch to my room and, as I opened the door, my mother yelled “Hey! Your room is a mess! Clean it up!” And from that second onwards all the power and will I had in my nimble body disappeared, and I didn't want to do it anymore. It wasn’t my choice. I wanted to choose! Let us choose! But we can’t even choose between Pepsi and Coca-Cola.

What are we so afraid of? If I choose a Pepsi and not a Coke, what’s going to change in my life? I say, let’s work on making fast decisions! Let’s not overthink! The reason we can’t choose is because we overthink and, while we are stuck in our minds making a big deal of every decision, we will end up making the wrong choice.

Take this as an example: my best friend had to make the hardest choice of her life a few years ago. She had to choose which university to apply to. This girl was frozen by indecision, she couldn’t sleep, she couldn’t think of anything else, she couldn’t decide. Grades were not a problem at all. So, not being able to choose she said “I’m going to be a doctor” and there she went to the hardest med school to get into in the country. One semester later and… … … “Oh no! I hate this!” Now what? The most important choice in her 17 years of life was wrong. Do you know what happened afterwards? The Earth cracked in half, a global pandemic surged from China and started to wipe the entire planet, the economy crashed, people started rioting, looting and burning buildings. And it was all her fault, because she couldn’t pick. I’m obviously joking. It only surged another choice in her life. Should I stay and be unhappy or should I go and try to find something I like?

Another friend, faced with the choice of which course to take said “ I want to get on a train and only stop when the track ends”. Some people seem to know what they want from the second they come out of the womb.

For most of my young life I couldn’t decide either, I was always choosing not to choose; I would too spend my days scrolling my Instagram looking at how people I never cared about were doing. But then I realised I wasn’t going to be a kid for much longer, my parents wouldn’t last forever, my family wouldn’t always be around. So I had to start choosing.

I’m not saying you should quit your job right now and start that big rock and roll band you have always dreamed of. I’m just saying “Don’t overthink”.

Would you rather tell your friends that you tried something new and you totally hated it, or just be quiet? Because, somehow, we often choose not to choose. And we lie on the sofa or sit at a desk mindlessly scrolling our social media, seeing how people are doing things we chose not to. Seeing how we made the safe choice to be bored. Seeing life as it walks by your window, and you didn’t choose to go after it. This is how you choose: you have to take the same amount of time thinking about your choice as you do choosing.

I say: stand up! Stand up! And tell me what you want. Don’t think, just do it. Don’t hesitate. I’m that little devil on your shoulder, telling you to jump from a cliff and build your wings on the way down. Telling you to fly closer to the sun because I know you won’t burn.

And if you do burn? Isn’t it better to burn out, than to fade away?

My name is André Pintor

And I hope you choose to like my speech.