Choices

"It is our choices that show what we truly are, for more than our abilities” (J. K. Rowling)
What do our choices reveal about who we really are? Think about an important choice that you have made. What would others learn about you if they knew how you chose? Do you agree with the quotation above? Are there times when we have to make choices that don’t reflect how we truly feel or think about things? Could this be culturally influenced?

According to the quote, our choices show how we cope under different situations, and our decisions are a general reflection of how we live our lives according to what we believe in.

Our choices generally do reveal our nature and how we live our lives. The man who decides to give up his wealth in life to pursue wisdom and the man who sits in the dark for 15 years contemplating murder give you different insights to a person's nature. What I know is that is the decision made is genuinely what one believes in their heart to be the best choice for the situation, then it's probably also a representation of who that person is.
I made a decision to follow the teachings of Christ a year or two ago, and I chose this religion over all the others that I could have chosen. This was a choice I made from the heart and probably reveals something sentimentally provoking. Bad choices are made, though, and most of them are made without thinking something through (which in itself also displays a part of one's nature). These bad decisions usually cause regret and self-pity (that is, if you are a sane and respectable human being); for instance a person's decision to give in to temptations or lust is considered by most to be immoral, and while the thought that led you to give in to the decision was favorable at first, in retrospect the choice was very poor (and the consequences dire).

Are there times when we have to make choices that don’t reflect how we truly feel or think about things? Well, I think that when one makes a decision they don't believe in, but do anyways, that in itself is a decision that they have made, because they know adhering to "what is in their heart" isn't always the most rational, or practical, thing to do. This is the case when we "go with the flow" and follow the mob interest.

I do know, though, that humans are prone to make choices that are illogical, irrational, or unsensible. Their choice also might not reflect how they really think, but due to the person's feelings or the circumstances, they may make a decision that obviously brings about bad coonsequences, but they do not fully realize it. Such is the case when anger or fear causes a person to make a bad decision (which may or may not be regretted later). This just shows that most people are human and are prone to these mistakes, but just because it is nature doesn't mean it is acceptable, either.

However we can't judge a person for what his or her actions indicate (to make a point here, we should never judge at all, but this teaching seems to slip past the minds of most people, teenagers especially). Since we are not omniscient, we can never know the true motives for the decision made, and we can't give a complete analysis of the person's character based on our knowledge, which is limited. Only the person who made the decision (and the Lord) knows himself or herself well enough to make a thorough judgment on who they are.