Choices

The ability to pick and choose what we want and what we don’t want is one of the key abilities that add spice and flavor to our lives. Most of us have the constant liberty to choose what we want to eat, drink, wear, own and so on and so forth. However, why is it, apart from variety of course, that we value choices so much?

Today, let’s take a deeper look at this important facet of life, one which has allowed you to actually read this statement (and hopefully will allow you to read further).

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.”

Shannon L. Alder

I am certain that at some point in time, someone or the other must have asked you a question with an effect similar to the one I am about to pose.

“If you could only eat one item of food for the rest of your life, what would it be?”

Unless you weren’t extremely bothered by a pressing deadline imposed on to you by the powers that be, you would have, after long thought, selected a dish that you reckon you could eat for the rest of your life. Also, for people who didn’t think long enough, I am fairly certain you had thought about this earlier in life.

Now, imagine for a second, that the selection you just made actually gets enforced on you, and you actually have to eat the same food item everyday. Does this sound as appealing now as it did earlier? I doubt it. (but if it does, more power to you buddy.)

Such is the power of choice.

The example that I have taken is a very inconsequential one, but very aptly helps me make the point I want to make. There are quite a few examples that are fungible with the one I used, but have more serious ramifications. Let me demonstrate a couple of them below.

• We are in the middle of something called “The Great Resignation”, where employees all across the globe are quitting their jobs voluntarily. However, thinking about the same time last year, social media was filled with people requesting assistance to help them find suitable (or unsuitable) employment out desperation.
• Movement, for a lot of us, isn’t our natural state of existence. We would rather stay on the couch, binge eating potato chips for most of the day. If we’re asked to move from someone who has more authority over us, we will move with fire in our eyes and rebellion in our mind. However, if we wanted to break our stationary routine due to an amazing activity, we would happily move, and that too with warp speed.

How do the two situations, in all the aforementioned examples, seem different from one another? The outcomes appear completely identical. The difference lies in the origin of the outcome, i.e. the whether or not we chose the said outcome. This directly points to one thing.

As long as the choices are ours, everything makes complete sense, and seems acceptable. Even the hazards of those choices. It’s when our choices are taken away, we start to question all reality.

This now begs the question, why is it that our choices matter so much to us?

The reason being, our choices; our being the keyword, make us believe that we are in control. And us being in control is always empowering. Or is it?

• While seeing everyone quitting one’s job, it might look like a really interesting and rewarding endeavor, there is always the possibility of making the wrong move at the wrong time. I mean, are you quitting your job just because everyone’s doing it? Or is there a real issue that you would be addressing by quitting your job?
• Constant lack of movement is directly correlated to increased health issues, and I hardly think I will have to put up numbers to prove this statement. And yet, movement seems like a big enemy to most of us.

Yet another question being prompted here, if our choices are made by things in our control, then why do the outcomes seem so bleak, despite them originating from our own minds, which presumably would like things to be good for us?

The problem with this, is that our vision, our again being the keyword, is so clouded with our preconceived notions and biases, that we hardly discern when our choices are genius, and when they are driving us towards ruin.

Now, like a lot of my articles, I am ending this one with yet another daunting question. If our choices do not necessarily lead to great outcomes, how can we trust them? Especially in today’s day an age, where our opinions are colored not only by real entities, but by invisible, digital giants that control a large portion of the attention economy?

If you stuck around this far, thank you for your time. If you enjoyed this, share this with one friend of yours whom you think will benefit from reading this. Thanks for reading, and I will see you in the next one.