I learned that when faced with a tough call, I can make good decisions, or at least they’re good decisions based on Cicero, a roman philosopher who wrote a book about making morally right decisions. Cicero postulated that good decisions are those that not necessarily benefit you, but benefit society. I am a textbook over-thinker, especially because I always think about how my actions or words can affect others around me or how they’ll be interpreted. In fact, I often come across as a very serious and anti-social person because I tend to be quiet in social situations. In actuality, I am really nice and friendly and love talking to other people. When someone sits next to me in class, a whole debate breaks out in my mind. “You should say hi to that person and ask them their name an make friends in the class!” “If you just say hi to this random stranger, they’ll think you’re weird.” “What are you going to say afterwards? If you don’t continue the conversation, the other person will think you’re awkward.” “If you say that joke, that can come across as mean.”

After having a huge internal monologue, the opportunity to say hi to the person next to me has passed, all because I over-think about saying hi to someone. Over-thinking does lead me to make good decisions though. Because of that, I always think about every possible situation that could come from a decision I need to make, and ultimately choose the one with less repercussions or the one that will help me get closer to my goal. But overall, I stray away from any decision that would harm others. Cicero also wrote about long-term gratification over short-term gratification, and I realized that I am always looking at the big picture when faced with a tough decision and base myself off of that. Who knew I was a real life Cicero?