Too Many Choices

I've started to think that a lot of our modern problems stem from having too many choices. There are a lot of great things about having options - for health care, education, employment, television. But, sometimes it's too much. Sometimes having too many choices leaves a person settling without any satisfaction.

Have you ever been to a restaurant where the menu is so big and so complex that you start to feel like you can't make the best choice? I feel like I can't really pick from the whole menu and so I have to pick a category and then choose from within that section. This is not really a big problem. A person should just be glad they get to choose their food. But, it's an example. Too many choices and you just can't possibly process them all.

It also seems that we start to over-think and over-analyze our problems when the solutions are plentiful. If your child is falling behind in school, you could just spend an hour ever night studying together. See if that works. Or, you could spend weeks researching tutors and education centers, learning disabilities and learning styles. You could make lists of pros and cons and study all your options. You could schedule testing and assessments. Meanwhile, valuable time is slipping by and your child is falling further behind.

Sometimes having all those options can really save a child from being lost in an academic mold. Sometimes having all those options can give a family a chance to try something new when the first thing doesn't work. Sometimes it's really helpful. I can see that. But, I can also think of so many times when I talked with someone about their options for a situation for such a long time - that we explored so many options - we never could really understand the big picture.

People say that the world is getting smaller as we have more access to distant places. I think the world is the same size, but we're squeezing too much into it.