Decide Better!

Every once in a while someone makes a courageous decision that not only warms our hearts but inspires us with the confidence to be more courageous in our own decisions. Susan Boyle from Scotland is the most recent example. At 47, unknown, unfashionable, and unglamorous, she made the courageous decision to try out for Britain’s Got Talent (the British version of American Idol). As she came on stage everyone, especially Simon, was ready to laugh at her and put her down; after all making fun of these untalented wannabees is part of the entertainment. Susan risked the embarrassment that would surely come because she was so different from the other contestants. She was too old and unattractive. She was an easy target. That must have been a brave decision for her to make to take that risk and try to achieve her dream. But the instant she started signing, the jeers turned to cheers as she sang an utterly magnificent version of “I had a Dream” from Les Miserables. The audience and judges were beside themselves with their own reversal of feelings as they stood and cheered. Even Simon broke out into a big spontaneous smile.

Even more than being a very talented singer, Susan Boyle inspired me and millions of others to make more courageous decisions in our own lives. If you haven’t seen her performance, look it up on You Tube. Ironically, Susan Boyle’s courageous decision reminded me of another courageous decision by someone who also lived in Scotland. J. K. Rowling, a single mother on welfare, diagnosed with clinical depression, decide to write a novel (not an easy task). She wrote the novel in cafes in Edinburgh as her daughter slept. Her Harry Potter books became one of the biggest success stories ever, and J. K. Rowling is now one of the most deserving rich people in Britain. I don’t know if people in Scotland tend to make more courageous decisions, but here are two that serve to give us all the confidence we need to make our own courageous decisions.

Jiverly Wong walked into the American Civic Center in Binghamton N.Y. with two handguns and murdered 13 people. How does someone decide to do this? In the last month there have been three other mass shootings killing 25 people. How does someone decide to do this? The victims, at least most of them, were not connected to the killer and there was no motive. Did he just reach a point of despair, decide he no longer want to live and then decided to take others with him. Why? In this case, it wasn’t a temporary fit of passion. Wong decided to commit the killings in advance. He had a valid gun permit for the two handguns. He went there with the intention of killing a lot of people, blocking the back exit with a car before going in the front door.

I’ve written about how people sometimes make emotional decisions based on anger, or other emotions, that are not rational, but these are usually reactions that pass quickly and people return to more rational thinking. Sometimes violence decisions can be based on the drive to “get back” at somebody, but the victim is the target of that decision. In Wong’s case, the decision seemed to be simply to kill others. I can’t understand how someone decides this.