Shades of Grey

The more we go through life, the more we stop seeing things in black and white.  I know it's cliche, but it's completely true.  Everything becomes a gradient, with no distinctly separate yes and no, but rather many shades of maybe and I don't know.  We seem less inclined to make definite decisions and stick to anything with any amount of certainty, and rather more likely to hesitate and give an indefinite answer to things.

Do we really see more or are we simply more afraid of being wrong?  As a child, they always teach you to express your opinion, share your views, stand up and not be afraid.  They tell you that mistakes aren't bad, that they happen, that you learn because of them and can get better.  Some people take this to heart and become vocal contributors to their communities in many respects because after all, even if you make a bad decision, it's nothing you can't fix and it teaches you something.

As adults, we begin to realize that there are certain things that can't be undone.  Decisions become more serious.  Certainly, we still have to decide if we want to eat an apple or an orange at a given time and it's (probably) not going to be disastrous.  But when we realize that now we're the ones making life or death choices that affect not only ourselves but other people with their own lives, suddenly it becomes more difficult to be as firm about a decision as we were as children.

Those who were always indecisive tend to maintain this trait as they mature.  Those who were so bold and outspoken sometimes retain this confidence.  Occasionally they become hesitant when the true gravity of their decisions hits them.  And sometimes they don't see anything coming until something goes tragically wrong because of a decision they made and never looked back on.

It seems that most people see the world in shades of grey as adults.  That even more simple decisions sometimes take on a level of complexity that they don't merit because of the tendency to look at everything in their lives with this deep contemplation and consideration.  This is the colloquial definition of over-thinking something.  Is it bad?  Do our lives develop in us this tendency to look at everything as being more complex than it is?