A.J.’s Self Help Entry

Life used to be simple. In fact, it used to be so simple that it’s really quite difficult to fathom what exactly our ancestors ever did with themselves. Really, we now have more technology on our phones than our grandparents did entirely. And, yet, doesn’t it seem like they were truly happier?

And, actually, “studies show” (that has to be the most frighteningly vague and overused phrase in our language) that they were truly happier. Or, at the very least, a lot less stressed. But, why exactly would that be? Shouldn’t our new technological luxuries make us happier (or, at least, less stressed)?

Well, perhaps they should, but the reality is, no, they don’t. The reasoning behind this seemingly bizarre truth is simple: Technology breeds choice. And, well, the more choices one has, the more bad choices one makes.

So, today, society as a whole is tossed into a whirlwind of bad decisions and missed opportunities. Or it least it seems that way. Ultimately, it amounts to nothing more than the age old livestock dilemma: The grass is always greener on the other side. And we’ve got a whole lot of grass.

Yes, although our ancestors were stuck spending days chewing their proverbial cud, we’re met with so much grass that it’s incredibly difficult to decide what to munch on (and even more difficult to not question your decision later). The most disconcerting thing about this whole dilemma is that there seems little plausible solution. Attempting to limit choice in one’s life seems a horridly bad notion, and it would actually be inherently impossible (as one would always have the choice of choice). But how do we eliminate all the stress, then?

The answer lies not in eliminating our choices, but limiting them to certain timeframes. A simple schedule comprised of “work time” and “leisure time” is a good start, though it doesn’t tackle the increasing amount of choices within each category. My suggestion is downsizing your life into as many little categories as possible until you feel sufficiently robotic, at which point your stress should decrease substantially. And if that doesn’t work, you could always just take pills.

<span style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Verdana; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times N

ew Roman'”>Now, I’ve just saved you $15.99 on a Dr. Phil self-help book. You’re welcome.