Too many choices

photo credit: jc.westbrook

Sometimes simple is better.

Lately I have been overwhelmed by the decisions that I have to make on a daily basis. When did everyday choices become such a burden?

I was in the grocery store the other day because I wanted to get some apples. Simple enough one would think.

When I got to the produce section I was reminded that we no longer live in a world ruled by simplicity. Golden Delicious. Granny Smith. Pink Lady. Gala. Red Delicious. Even something called a Grapple – a cross between an apple and a grape. Flummoxed by the variety of apples, I couldn’t make a decision.

I wondered if Eve had been faced with so many choices, would she have opted for a banana instead? I decided to keep it simple and chose a Washington Red – a classic among apples.

Later that same day I went online looking for a pot roast recipe. Easier said than done. I was bombarded by thousands of recipes for pot roasts, each one complete with reviews. I spent half an hour going from one recipe to another thinking that maybe the next one would be better. By the time I settled on one (and it just so happened it was the very first one I had looked at) it was too late to cook. So I decided to go the quick and easy route – fast food.

I chose my numbered meal, happy to have everything already figured out for me. But I wasn’t done yet. Small, medium or large? Fries, onion rings or apples? Ranch, honey mustard or BBQ? Sweet tea or coke? I wasn’t even hungry anymore.

When I got home I settled in with my computer,ready to relax a bit, in search of some specific something or other. I found a relevant site and then that site had a link to another site. And then that site had a link, and so on and so on. And, well, you get the picture. I had a hard time remembering exactly what I started looking for so I just called it a night.

I love that we live in a world of possibilities. But sometimes I do long for a time when we had fewer choices and life was simpler. Maybe then we could appreciate what we do have instead of constantly searching for the next best thing.

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