Revisiting Choices

A while back I stumbled upon, thanks to Boy pushing me face first into the right direction, a TED clip on youtube. It featured a man named Barry Schwartz and the idea that the more choices we have, the less satisfied we'll be with what we ultimately pick. Because really, something else could have been better, right? It intrigues me to no end that we seem to be less happy when we have more options, since logically, it should be the other way around.

Then I really started thinking, because I have way too much free time and not enough things to fill it with. Or I have too much to do and I end up crashing, which leads back to too much time to think.

Maybe it all boils down to only two choices? If you really look at our options, our choices, maybe there are only two options in every scenario - To Do and To Not Do.

That thought in itself gives birth to a whole slew of headache, because if you believe that each option is divided into two choices, the choices explode in a whirlwind of fractals increasing at an exponential rate and it all gets very confusing very fast.

But isn't that reality?

Say that we're going to the grocery store to buy ketchup. First we have to decide if we want pants on or not, then shoes, then the rest of our clothes. Then we make the decision to step out the door instead of turning back. Each step is the decision to keep moving forward.

Let's fast forward a bit.

We finally find ourselves standing in front of the shelves with ketchup bottles. Once we settle on the brand and bottle we want, we have made the choice to not pick any of the other brands and bottles. Do we decide to actually buy it or do we put it back? Will we pay for it or try to steal it?

The paradox of choice talks about decreasing satisfaction in the face of an increase of choices, speaking mainly of picking one thing over another. Imagine instead the thousands of tiny choices we make every day, every hour.

Imagine being held accountable for every choice we make.

And we are held accountable for our choices. That is what it means to be in control of your own life.

Of course we cannot be held accountable for the butterfly effect, but it stands to reason that we should be held accountable for the immediate consequences of our choices. There is after all a difference between deciding to launch a nuclear attack and picking a different brand of diapers in the store isle. We can't be held accountable for the treatment of factory workers in the Third World, but we can be held accountable for deciding to buy products from the companies mistreating Nature and people.

Life, and living, is another one of those Do or Do Not choices. I am very aware of the fact that every day I choose to live. Ever since I decided that I did not want to be dead that day when I was 13, I have actively chosen to live. I do not ponder the Why's, because they are not relevant. I chose to live, because I wanted and want to live. I don't need another reason.

Donna Noble decided to turn right.

I choose to be alive, to walk proud, with my head held high. I choose to live my life on my terms. I choose to walk the path of least resistance. I choose to not worry about my very complicated relationship with my family.

I choose to be me.