Is there such a thing as too many choices?

I was inspired by a Speaking of Faith blog posting today on Finding Freedom within Chosen Constraints. The beautiful painting on the left is by artist Ivette Guzman-Zavala who was inspired by a Sylvia Plath novel, The Bell Jar, which was published in the early 1960s. From the Speaking of Faith blog:

... the book's bright college-aged protagonist envisions her future life choices - motherhood, career, travel - as plump figs on a tree. She can't choose among these inviting figs and so she's paralyzed:

"I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."

I have been a vegetarian now for over two decades. My reasons for being a vegetarian stemmed from health reasons ... they have since grown beyond that to a multitude of reasons of which a driving force is to live my life in harmony with my values and beliefs. I smiled as I read the Speaking of Faith blog ... I can't count the number of times I have sat in restaurants with friends or colleagues. They are presented with a plethora of menu options and choices. The struggle to choose ONE item from so many options. I've had friends asked, "do you know what you're getting? I can't decide!" My answer is often "yes." I smile. "It's a lot easier for me to decide as I only have a couple options to choose from." Then when it comes to drinks, I also don't have any choices. As a recovering alcoholic I no longer drink beer or wine or kahlua (which used to be my favorite!). I also gave up coffee, soda/pop and all sweet drinks. I have come to enjoy plain, simple, refreshing room temperature water.

We all want to have the freedom to make our own choice. We walk into a grocery story and the shelves are stacked with so many choices, brands, flavors .... how many sizes, flavors, options can we have? Sweetened, unsweetened, low-fat, high grain, low sodium, lactose free ... or when you stop at a Starbucks ... I remember the days when I would frequent a Starbucks every day ... "i'd like a grande vanilla soy steamer, no foam, extra hot." Some days i'd add "sugar-free".

For health and for personal reasons I have "given up a lot" ... or that's the perception of some friends and colleagues. I have a very restricted diet - vegetarian, no dairy, no refined sugars, coffee, alcohol. I don't smoke, I don't take any drugs (even aspirins or tylenol) ... the only medicine I take is my pancreatic enzymes (and my doctor tells me those aren't drugs!! :) I stay away from processed foods as much as possible and no fried foods.

Strangely, I feel like my life is more fulfilling than I could ever imagine. I like the simplicity of my life and that I don't need much or I don't want much. I love that I can walk into a grocery story and be out of there in 10 minutes and not be tempted by all the marketing gimmicks; I love that I have only a few choices from menus at restaurants; I guess I have created my life so that my choices are limited. I think there is still more I can do to bring my life to even more simplicity and to the bare essentials.

For now .. I guess i'm grateful for limited choices.  I close, again, with the line from Sylvia Plath's book that inspired the paintings by Ivette Guzman-Zavala.

"I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet."