Drowning in Opportunities

That phrase popped into my head in my least favorite class this morning.  And I liked it.  The phrase, still working on my attitude for that class.

In my AP Psychology class a few years ago, we talked about the paradox of choice.  The more options one has to choose from, the less satisfied one is with the final choice.  It seems odd to be less satisfied with more options, hence the paradox.  The rationale is that with each choice there is an un-choice.  I chose crepes for breakfast this morning (good choice!) so I did not choose oatmeal or cereal or pancakes.  The more options you have, the more possibilities wind up un-chosen.  And since we naturally compare our present state to our "could have been" state, if there are more paths we did not take, we will be more vexed pondering all the routes un-traveled.  

I wish I could learn everything and go to every concert and every lecture and every ward activity and put 100% into absolutely everything.  But people who tell you to give 100% to everything aren't very good at math.  (This coming from me, enough said.) We only have 100%. (duh) 100% and choices of where and how to invest it.  So I can't go do everything or learn everything or be everything.  Bummer.

But I can be me.  And I can do a lot of cool things that are important to me.  And I can learn as much as I can.  And, that will just have to be enough for now.  My dad always tells my mom, "You can have it all, you just can't have it all at once."  My mom and I are very similar. (Lucky me!) 

So for now, I guess I'm going to have to figure out how to swim.