Think

I don't know about you, but sometimes, I just want someone to tell me the right answer. Tell me what to do. Tell me what is best. It's easy. It's fast. It's reassuring. Someone else is taking care of it. Someone else knows better than me. I'm tired. I don't have time. I'm unsure of myself. I'm not the expert here. Just tell me what to do.

But hang on — let's you and me slow down for a minute and do exactly the opposite. Let's breathe. Let's think.

It is so easy to go on autopilot in this world. Man, is it easy! We've got machines and systems and experts galore who will happily tell us exactly what to do, how to live, what to think. After all, who are we to know what's best?

It's tempting to take the just-hand-it-to-me road, because thinking is hard sometimes. Thinking takes work. Thinking can be painful. It means being awake to life, to what's going on around you, instead of zoning out. Wondering, examining, questioning all the time. It takes some belief in yourself, that you have the ability to think things through and make good decisions. It takes some commitment.

But the hard work of all that thinking yields massive results. We get to own ourselves and our lives, even when outside forces try to control us. We get to uncover the truth about things, to really know. We get to make decisions according to reality instead of buying into fear and propaganda. We get to really live.

We know what happens when people fail to exercise their ability to think. The COVID years tell the tragic tale, and the story of not-thinking continues all around us. 

So, we should celebrate thinking wherever we see it these days. Let's applaud the increasing number of U.S. parents who are deciding against vaccinating their children for Human Papillomavirus (HPV) due to safety concerns. The CDC and many medical professionals strongly advocate for this vaccine, but these parents have stopped and thought it through for themselves. Is it worth the risk — and yes, there have been injuries and deaths — to guard against a virus that resolves harmlessly on its own in 90% of cases and that most infected people do not even know they have? 

Think.

It's about pausing, taking a breath, and opening our eyes. We don't have to hastily blurt out, “How high??” every time someone commands us to jump. 

Think for yourself. Despite what “authorities” may say, it's still legal.