Evening star., 1928-12-12
Indecision.

Ny chief trouble is indecisi9n. s,. Eve Even in in
@Sned 40 70 do ese Ny mother
| tells me I have always been like that. BtH
come come much m h"V worse s " and and more painful It
! isn't so much worry about doing the wrong
make up my mind what to do. How do
you overcome that state OF mind2 i,1sz
Reply.
This is part of a, cease" most of
which is confidential The fact that
this woman has recently come into the
MANAGEMENT of her inheritance has
precipitated matters. Hers is neither a
simple nor a typical case. Indecision
hasn't any single cause or simple
! psychology.
1t may be approached through the
situation of choice or of doubt Quite
early in life children must be taught
! to choose by choosing; it's the proper
avenue to the exercise of control.
Taking your choice is a training in will
as we'll as in Judgment. The infant just
takes what's offered or refuses; 1t
enters higher grade of behavior when
| it chooses
Learning to choose is lifelong
| training; it extends from the nursery
/ to the last will and testament. The
| first will would make an interesting OBJ
Servation If you could catch an infant
at it. Children are as inexpert in will
ing as in everything else, perhaps more
so because it is the most difficult step
| in behavior. Children's whims repre-
sent their inexpert wills: When they
| insist on having the oatmeal just SO,
making big distinction when there is
little or none at ALL We then say that
they are "chooSy," particular, "
"finicky," which is much too grown-up
word, and "fastidiouS'' Is even more
so, for all this implies a fine sense of
| preference.
/ Children's behavior initiates that
delicate type of decision, but it's very
| far from the real thing. We are
| nearer the mark when we call them
"capricious," which means that they
want one thing one day and another
the next, and are not satisfied with
what they get. We often say, and cor
rectly, that they don't know what they
want. 1t takes long training to de-
eide promptly and wisely what you
want, almost as long as to learn how to
get it after you know 1t.
A full-grown, mature character is
| firm and decisive. The will is well
! clear cut. The chief executive in an
organization is the man who does little
else than make decisions, thus again
indicating that it is the eliminating
step, the responsible post. Indecision
or vacillation is mature failing of the
adult mind. We protect the child from
too many or too difficult decisions by
making decisions for him; not that he
is indecisive and couldn't do it for him
self, but that the decisions wouldn't
be wise.
Indecision enters with doubt, and
doubt enters with the weighing of pros
and cons and the dread, increasing
with responsibility, that the decision
will be the wrong one The impulSive
child will decide quickly and wrongly;
the hesitant adult will decide slowly
for fear he may decide wrongly
So far as changing ones mind is re-
garded as woman'S privilege, it is
concession to an uniformed will. If any,
body, man or woman. on mature re-
Election. reverses decision. like a
supreme court, 1t is an act of strength,
even If he reverses his own decision
Changing your mind in vacillation is
indecision: and that vacillating habit is
of the same stamp as the hesitation in
reaching a decision which in the in
stance cited becomes a troublesome
symptom of nervous disorder. Nor