This Is Our Time: Everyday Myths in Light of the Gospel

by Trevin K. Wax

Too many choices can paralyze you. Barry Schwartz made this case in a book called The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less.2 He argued that an abundance of choice leads to increased levels of anxiety, depression, and wasted time. We spend too much energy deliberating between restaurants, what TV shows to watch, what career path to take, or what can of soup to buy from the store. When we’re given so many opportunities, we second-guess ourselves, wondering if we have chosen poorly. Or we postpone our choice as long as possible, just to make sure we don’t find something better. After all, who wants to settle for less? “Nobody makes plans because something better might turn up,” Schwartz says. “And the result is that nobody ever does anything.”3 Or as Aziz discovered, you wind up with a peanut butter sandwich because you waited so long to figure out which incredible restaurant to visit. Or, as statistics now indicate, people choose to cohabitate in a series of relationships rather than marry, just in case someone better is on the horizon.