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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