There's a Calvin and Hobbes comic strip where Calvin's dad is standing in the aisle of a grocery store, expressing aloud his frustration at the vast amount of choices of peanut butter. In the end, he returns home without any. ...
While the incident is humorous from the outside, it cleverly touches on one of the greatest dilemmas of a first-world lifestyle. ... That is, how too many choices can paralyze us. ... Researchers have actually confirmed this phenomenon, finding that when confronted with more than a small handful of options, most people can't make a decision. ... They simply don't know which one would be the best, and would rather back away than choose something that would end up being only second-best. ...
I know, what a great problem to have, right? We're a spoiled lot if the worst thing that will happen to us during the day is being unable to choose between low-fat potato chips and unsalted. ...
But the phenomenon extends far beyond our grocery store choices. ...
There are over a dozen hot social media sites, all clamoring for our attention, each promising that if you spend enough time on the site, connecting with enough people, sharing enough of your life, than you will benefit... Dating websites offer a plethora of profiles of potential partners... And if you Google, "how to make money online" or "how to make money from home," the results that come up offer an almost endless list of possibilities...
Then thereare the hundreds, even thousands, of gadgets and household items that pop up everywhere in ads. Worse, if you're online, they're more and more tailored to your personal preferences and lifestyle, making them increasingly more difficult to resist...
All of these opportunities pull at us with their promises to make out lives better, or their subtle threats that if you ignore them, you'll miss out on something big. ... Those of us who resist them are constantly dealing with the low-level stress that comes from the work of having to constantly push away temptation. Those of us who give in eventually discover that the detriments to all those sparkling objects considerably outweigh their benefits...
They suck away our precious time... They put a strain on our bank accounts... They decrease our ability to be creative and our desire to reach out and genuinely connect with others... They increase our anxiety and depression by exposing us to half-truths and outright lies that make the world feel like a scary place to live... They can even lead to broken relationships and broken hearts...
Ultimately, the abundance of opportunities lead to overwhelm and confusion, which increase our stress levels to the point of ill health. And if we feel pressured to make a choice, and make the wrong one, more and worse calamities can arise...
So today, I want to challenge and encourage you. The challenge is twofold. First, I challenge you to make the decision to purposely cut yourself off from at least some of the voices and images that are inducing the fear of missing out... Second, I challenge you to immerse yourself in real life, and in face-to-face connections. If you take on this challenge, you won't waste time, money, and energy chasing false hopes...
My encouragement is simple: ... you can do it...
Peace to you, and may blessing abound in every area of your life.