Choices

In order to enhance your reading I would highly recommend listening to the ever-inspiring E-40. In an effort to keep this blog PG-13 I am happy to offer the clean version.     
        

Like E-40 states so simply throughout this song, everybody 'got choices, this is a phrase that I previously took for what it is worth. This is also a phrase that now has completely different meaning after reading Barry Schwartz's book, The Paradox of Choice. In the Book Schwartz makes the statement that in the United States specifically we are inundated with too many choices. 

Truth. 

I can't remember the last time I partook in the mundanity of buying cheese at Albertsons and didn't have to sift through 20 choices. Do I get the cheap stuff? Shredded or block? Do I splurge on some fancy stuff (no way, I'm in college). Like the line in E-40's song below, I too lack a little gouda. 

Lyrics

"Now you cleaner than a bar of Dove soap? (yup)
Got a little gouda? (nope)"

Now in all seriousness, this book brought up so many good points, and really got me to think about my life. Am I a satisficer or a maximizer? Very simply put, satisficers are generally satisfied with their decisions, where as maximizers search and search for the best possible option, often failing to find it. If you want more background as to what these are look into this great summary by Gretchen Rubin. When I took a step back to consider what I was, I found that I am generally a satisficer. Luckily, because the way Schwartz explained maximizers did not sound fun at all. How can you go through life and be happy, if no matter what you decide you always are wondering if there is a better option out there. How can you ever hold a long term relationship? How can you get things done when you have to spend 4 hours at the grocery store deciding what type of cheese you should get, and what kind of meat would go best in a burrito. A burrito that you are ultimately not satisfied with... This is enough to go crazy. 

Link

This made me think about the world we live in, are there too many choices? Is this a factor in depression and anxiety? In my opinion, yes. My dad and sister were recently in Africa, working in a orphan school in Ethiopia. One thing they noticed was the level of happiness despite the lack of things that they owned. The happiness was found in relationships. Happiness was found in thing that make them genuinely happy, rather than temporarily. Coffee with friends, dinner with family, a relationship with God, all things that give a sense of belonging. Even though I wasn't there, and I didn't experience it first hand, from what I heard; these are the things important to kids and adults in a nation that isn't as privileged as we are here. What car they decide on isn't a choice that affects their day, and wouldn't that be nice? It's easier said than done, but we need to find a way to be satisfied with our lives, to realize when something works or doesn't. I need to be happy with my car I have because it is so much better than I need. 

I suggest one thing: find things that make you genuinely happy, and once you find those things buy into them completely. Be able to distinguish between the two, and know when you are focusing on activities that bring you temporary happiness, then stop doing those things. 

You know I have to take it full-circle.

Take a page out of E-40s book. Say "yup" or "nope" then move on with your life. Be satisfied with what you have, because in the grand scheme of things we got it pretty good.

Till next time. 

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Surpassing the Normal

I'm not a blogger, nor do I think I ever will be. With that said, classes sometimes make you do things you don't usually do, things that you aren't used to, things that aren't the norm. I've learned recently that the normal things you do in everyday life, these routines that you get into are like sand. This sand grabs your feet and you begin to sink. 

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Sticking with the routine is the safe path, its what you are used to, and its something that can't hurt you. There's something to be said about that, and in some cases this may be the right option for you. 

I grew up in a home where spring break every year was to the same place. Where we didn't move houses or cities, and where the biggest change was when my mom changed the color of the walls or moved the furniture. This was good for my family growing up. As a kid I wouldn't have wanted things to change, that would have been too hard, but it also would have forced me to grow. 

New things push you to do something that you are uncomfortable with. The amount of growth that comes from this is unfathomable. Until you experience change, and see the things that you learn from it, routine is relatively easy to keep. New perspectives make you more understandable to other cultures, how people act, and so many other things. 

Because my raising up was so based around routine my sister and I are both controlled by an extreme desire to see new things. When I'm done with college that last thing I want to do is stay here. I want to go out and see new cities, meet new people, try new things, and do this with the people that I love. With that said, staying here is the easiest option. It seems the most safe, and thats the problem. I know staying with the routine won't help me grow, and I know it won't make me the happiest. I'll live the rest of my life yearning to know about other places in the world. Wishing I would have experienced them when I was younger, when I didn't have ties to a certain place 

With this in mind, here is my first blog post ever. Even if I only write the 15 I need to for this class and never write one again. I grew, I learned something new and went out of my comfort zone. So cheers to the beginning of change. 

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