You’ve been there, we all have. Moments when you’re faced with a bucket of choices and time sways in anticipation as you hold the power to make a decision. Maybe your election is in regards to something simple and trivial or maybe something life changing. No matter whether your judgement is about to effect a big or small part of your life, for many, just the simple action of deciding seems to consume way more of our mental energy than it should. Why? Well, for starts did you know …
More Doesn’t Always Mean Merrier.
Having an abundance of choice seems great on the surface, but it means spending more brain power on the many more options to consider. Many people believe that the more choices they have, the better their life will be, or worse, the happier they will be. Both are false. We want to believe there is joy in having this rainbow of variety, but in reality there is less.
It happens all too frequently. We finally amp up the energy to make a choice and then we think about the outcome of that choice for hours, days or weeks after its been made. Could I have chosen a better meal? Should I have worn something different? Could I have chosen a better mate? A better car? A better career? A better (FILL IN THE BLANK WITH LITERALLY ANYTHING)?
The reason we question ourselves to no end is because with that plethora of choice also comes greater opportunity for
Dissatisfaction
With good comes bad. It’s how life operates. Thinking about all the ways something “could have been” only creates tension and anxiety within us. This increase of options brings an increase in contemplating combinations. Every single one of us has, at one point or another, lost sleep over thinking, What could have been “better” ? See, the odds are already stacked against you. Ultimately, you’re only capable of choosing so much at a time. It can seem hard to be happy with one decision when several selections are available.
Removing all the noise of choice doesn’t work either. As breathing beings, we need to be co-creators in our lives and having no choice at all makes us feel helpless and angry at the world.
The peace lies in, dare I say it, only considering SOME choices. We can’t have it all, although many drive themselves insane trying to, and we won’t be happy if we have nothing to choose from. Balance is the calm spot for living harmoniously & happily. Allow yourself some. Not all. Not none.
For more information, check out Barry Schwartz’s ,
The Paradox of Choice.
Link: http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Choice-Why-More-Less/dp/149151423X
You Beautiful Life 