The Burden of Choice

I have a lot to do each day. Sure, I have to work, who doesn’t? I also have to sleep, eat, shower, etc. just like normal people do. Then there is all the TV I have to watch. Nightly news and weekly shows take hours of my time away every week. American Idol takes somewhere between 4 and 6 hours every week and I do have to watch. Otherwise, how will I be able to keep up with the conversation at work the next day? If I don’t spend this much time at the television I would have to rely on my own judgment as to what to wear and what to think. I would be lost in a world of other people that were “in the know”. So I add TV to my list of things I must do. Sleep, eat, shower, work and watch TV. Did I mention that I have the Internet? Why go to the beach if you aren’t going to do any surfing, right? I have 10 internet sites I visit every day, just to keep up with the ever expanding content and information the web offers. If I don’t, I feel like I’ve likely missed something terribly interesting, entertaining or both. And when someone says “did you get that email with the funny pictures of potato chips?” I want to be able to say yes. Yes I did. These things have to get done and have to be kept up with. I have to keep up with my magazine subscriptions as well. Trees are cut down, pulped, printed on and sent to my house every week. The newspaper twice a week and the Macon News is always grabbed during my obligatory weekly Wal Mart trip. The least I can do is take some time to examine the content printed on these ill-fated forests. When I add it all up, take the total amount of minutes in a day, I find my self without “free” time. Without “me” time. I feel left without time for friends or family. With so many things in my life to choose from, I find myself feeling like everything is a commitment and nothing is choice. If you are out there feeling this way too, might I suggest trying to make some choices before we all need to be committed.
That is the great challenge of the modern life. We are given so much to choose from we become frightened of choice. The ability to choose is a gift and a burden. Choice doesn’t make our lives easier. Choice makes our lives more interesting. To make a choice takes discernment. I choose Vanilla over Chocolate. When I make that choice I am giving up the opportunity to have the chocolate. I really enjoy chocolate. The question is can I eat the vanilla without being sad or upset that I’ve missed out on the flavor I have rejected? Far too often people are choosing not to make the choice. Eating both vanilla and chocolate. This is making us fat, not just in body, but in mind and spirit as well. Many people in the secular world are afraid of choosing a faith because it might not be the “right” one. We “channel surf” through dozens of cable channels not watching anything because we are afraid of not choosing the best show. We have to stop surfing and start choosing. We have to have the courage to choose poorly. If we make mistakes, we are often given opportunities to try something new. Other times we are left with regret for a choice rejected and lost from us forever, but to drift aimlessly from one thing to the next is far more dangerous. It leaves us disconnected from our lives and only obligated to it. By attempting to have everything we are left with the nagging feeling of having nothing and we risk missing out on everything the world has to offer.