Too Many Choices

Photo by Mozart

Do you remember the show "Clean Sweep"? A team with a goofy construction pro, a dramatic designer, a hard-nosed organizer, and an over-the-top host would enter a family's home and convince them to get rid of the majority of the "junk" in a room with the promise of a new, better room. At first, it was a humorous show with playful banter and a few tears, but as time went on, America began to realize that some of these people had problems, big problems, that could not be solved in two days on site and a 30 minute television show. Fast forward a few years, and now there is a clinically diagnosed anxiety disorder called hoarding and much darker, more serious shows "Hoarders" and "Hoarding: Buried Alive".

I have a close family member, who if she consented to psychological help, would no doubt be diagnosed with this disorder. As I considered her history, her life that led to this place where she is completely obsessed and controlled by her stuff, I had a thought. When she was a child and even a young woman, she had very few choices. She didn't have countless restaurants, grocery stores, and thrift stores to choose from, and her choices within the stores she entered were considerably less. She had less money to spend and fewer things to spend it on. There were only three kinds of cereal. I don't know a world where there are only three kinds of cereal.  

All of this pondering, brought me to this realization. We are living in a world with an ever increasing amount of choices. That is not going to change.  There is no going back from here. All you need to do to prove this is visit the grocery store and count the types of ice cream or salad dressing, or turn on the television and count the channels or movies on Netflix, or visit the app store and search for games, or type your city name and dance studio into your search engine. We like our choices and will choose places that offer us more choices, simply because there are more. My question is, "Am I teaching my kids how to make WISE choices?" Usually this statement is applied to moral decisions, and it certainly applies there, but I wonder if I am teaching them how to weed through all the "good" options they have and choose what will improve their life and their ability to serve God. Am I teaching them how to reject a thousand good things because even though they seem good, they actually just add chaos and distraction? Do I allow them to choose poorly and learn from their mistakes, or do I simply make all the choices for them? Do I make wise choices?

The problem of hoarding cannot be fixed with a few lessons on choices. I am not a psychologist or counselor, and I am not proposing a cure for hoarding. There is so much that I don't understand, but I cannot help but think that each purchase that was made and each decision to not get rid of something ultimately led to a place of being trapped, consumed, and crippled. Choices, seemingly small ones, led to a point of confinement, and at least in my experience, an ineffectiveness for the kingdom of God. 

Today, I am going to begin considering the places that I need to choose better, but I am also going to begin more intentionally including my girls in those choices, explaining why Matt and I are choosing what we are, allowing them to make some choices on their own. Ultimately, I want them to choose to faithfully follow Christ not be snagged away and distracted by all the other choices they will be offered.