Paradox of Choice

I’ve been ruminating about choice lately.  Not the Roe v. Wade kind of choice, although that’s on my mind too, but the confusion and paradox inherent in the many, many choices we have in our lives.

Generally, when I feel like I don’t have choices, it is actually because I either have too many choices or I don’t like the choices I have.  For example, I’ve been toying with moving.  I love California and I’m dug in here, so chances are low.  But when the traffic and expense and density of this place get me down or when I’ve watched too much House Hunter International, my mind can wander. But when I start to think about where I want to go, I get overwhelmed with too many choices.  Until recent events, I thought about a return to Washington, D.C., or maybe beloved Austin beckons, or there is always a pull homeward to Mississippi.  And then, I’ll think about how much I’ve always wanted to work abroad– Europe, Costa Rica, Asia.  The world is my oyster.  The paradox is that having so many choices is almost like having none at all.  Sigh.

The same is true with hard decisions in life.  If I don’t like the work I’m doing, I can change  that.  Maybe I don’t like the options available, but change is possible.  If I don’t like my house, my relationships, my body, my whatever, I can change if I’m willing to take a little action.   There are always choices and by not making one, I am making a choice to stay in exactly the same place.

Sometimes all I can change is the way I think about my current situation.  Post election, it can either be doomsday scenarios for daily bread or I can choose to focus on what I can do to build the world I want to live in.  I can choose to see the world as full of possibility and promise.  I can choose to believe that our best days are still ahead. I choose that.  Just for today.  I hope you’ll join me.