How to Lose the Voting Uncertainty

I was watching Dr Manal Omar today (a psychiatrist) talking about how to make a right decision when uncertain about something. Her talk was about the elections and those of us who haven't decided yet who to vote for, but those steps can be applied to anything. I'm sharing them with you, dear reader, and if you have decided who to vote for, keep them, you might need them someday. They're supposed to be ten steps, but she only said nine compacting two of them into one. I promise to try to find the source and update this post with the ten steps as written by the author later. So without further ado, I bring to you nine of the ten steps to making the right decision:

1. Collect different information from different sources, both good and bad. Find the pros and cons of your choices. 

- When it comes to the elections, list all the candidates' pros and cons that you collect from different sources, trusted ones, and make your first choice according to those findings.

2. Be basic, look for simplicity. Don't spam yourself with the details, but rather have a look from above. Practice Parachuting, take a look at the big picture as a whole and not at every tiny detail alone. 

- Don't focus on one person he met, or one word he said. Think of the candidate as a package and see if this package fits you or not. Give each a description made up of one sentence (his ideology, for example) and choose based on that sentence.

3. Do not repeat the same mistakes and expect different results. Stop repeating the same pattern, change is good. Try different route ands don't stick to the same choice every time. 

- Don't stick to what we've been stuck in for 30 years and took us to the bottom of the bottom. Don't stick to those who ruled us for the past 15 months and did nothing but killed our brothers and sisters. Don't stick to those who gave promises that are now in vain. Try a new pattern this time, vote for the revolution =).

4. Study the characteristics very well, they're important. A human being is a human being and his characteristics will control his choices to some extent, so make sure you know of them.

- If you see a candidate's personality as unfit for the job, then don't vote for him because that is just him and he will not change. 

5. Look at the situation, does this person fit to be put in that position at that time? He might be good but he is not necessarily the right choice for the given situation.

- Choose not only a good candidate, but also one who is good for this phase and that time.

6. Expect that things can go wrong, have a plan B. Have a way to fix whatever goes out of the planned. Know that a part of your choice is based on the unknown, so have plans to react to all possibilities of this unknown.

- Candidates give us promises that they might not fulfill, always remember that we have the right to protest and oppose the president, and always remember that if he doesn't fulfill anything we can always vote for another in four years, it's not the end of the world.

7. Ask experts, don't expect to know everything, and don't believe everything you're told. Ask people who understand, ask people who work in the field and can give you an answer based on reason.

- Ask financial experts, ask political scientist, ask judges before you believe anything the media tries to make you believe.

8. Have a dialogue with a person with an opposing opinion. A dialogue with someone who has the same opinion will never get you anywhere, you need to here the other side of everything. A dialogue is different from a discussion, a dialogue is to talk with a person in order to find a truth and not fight over opinions.

- Have a dialogue with another candidate's supporter and hear their reasons for voting for this candidate rather than the one you support, try to find who deserves your vote and help the other person do the same.

9. Try not choose according to your own benefit and only yours, think of whatever you're surrounded by and try your best to not make your choice harm them.

- Don't choose to vote for someone who can put a whole country in a war just because you feel that you can benefit more or will be safer if he's president.

At the end, let me add just a little note for you to read before you choose tomorrow. Don't act according to the fear of the unknown, the elections is not the end of the world. Fight every war with the cleanest of weapons, whether you see this as boycotting or voting for this candidate or that. Don't choose the bad in fear of the worst. Don't follow the herd, vote (or boycott) according to what your morals tell you not according to who has a higher probability of winning because the rest think is better. 

I ask you to please pray for our martyrs who made this day possible for all of us. Whether you're with or against these elections, this is historical and we'll be marked in history as the first ever Egyptian voters in presidential elections. It's now up to us to write our future, and we owe it all to a revolution and people who lost their lives or their eyes for us to get here. So please pray for them and make them proud, whether you see this is by voting or boycotting. And please remember that the elections is never the end, it's just the beginning of a continuous revolution that will never stop until we reach all sorts of justice. So be happy, be grateful and be proud, because you're part of one of the best parts of modern history =). Glory to the martyrs, viva la revolucion, long live the free Egypt =)