It happens to me almost every day. The dilemma of choice. I wonder if you too have a similar tale to tell.
As I park my car in the basement and wait for the elevator to take me to my office on the sixth floor, I am confronted by a choice between two elevators. One is a ‘slow’ option—it stops on every floor—while the other is the ‘express’ option—it stops only on even-numbered floors. Which elevator should I take? The express or whichever comes first? And as I wait with the others for the elevator, it’s fascinating to watch the dilemma play out every morning.
I don’t know if my mind is playing tricks on me but it feels like the ‘slow’ elevator almost always presents itself first. We get into it rather reluctantly, longingly eyeing the panel of the elusive ‘express’ elevator. And as the ‘slow’ elevator gently lifts off, only to stop quickly on the first floor, you can hear a collective sigh of disappointment. People turn their wrists to look at that watch—‘Argh! Late again!’ Furtive glances at each other indicate a shared sense of dismay. If elevators had a mood indicator, this one would clearly show ‘irritated’.
This sets me thinking. Our experience with elevators is probably true of our lives too. We see two paths ahead of us and are never sure which one to choose. We make a choice and then worry about the road not taken.
And often our choice is dictated not by what we know is the better option, but by what presents itself first. A bird in hand seems worth several in the bush. We are not willing to wait. So we just take the elevator that comes first. Or the first job we are offered. Waiting seems like such a waste of time.
So what’s the way out? Just decide what is best, what it is that you want, and don’t get distracted by other options that might lure you along the way. Allow your choices in life to be dictated by what you want to achieve and not the sequence in which those options appear before you. If it is the ‘express’ elevator you’ve decided to take, don’t get tempted when life’s ‘slow’ elevator comes up first.
But here’s another thought.
Maybe we should all just learn to relax a bit and not get too stressed by every choice we need to make. Both the elevators eventually get us to the floor of our choice, to our destination—and that’s what should really matter. No one’s going to look at you and say, ‘Ha, ha, he took the “slow” elevator!’ And by not getting too caught up in the choice of the elevator, we might learn to enjoy the ride just a bit more. And maybe, just maybe, that might help wipe out the frowns on our faces and replace them with smiles. Now that’s priceless!
In life, as with the elevator, it might help us to let go of our fascination with this misplaced sense of urgency. Getting there faster—nay, first—doesn’t need to become an overriding tenet of our lives. Think about it. Wherever you go, you see people agitated about getting ahead. Look at the queues in the supermarket, and you’ll see young couples splitting up and waiting in two separate queues—just in case Murphy is proved right again. Why give up the pleasure of each other’s company for five minutes just to possibly check out 30 seconds faster? It happens every morning at airports across the country: busy executives jump queues and jostle like schoolkids to get past security first. Worth the stress? And the stares? I doubt it!
When I mentioned to my wife the other evening my daily elevator dilemma, she didn’t even look up from the book she was reading. She just said: ‘Why don’t you just take the stairs? That would be really good for you!’
We see two paths ahead of us and are never sure which one to choose. We make a choice and then worry about the road not taken. So what’s the way out?
Allow your choices in life to be dictated by what you want to achieve and not the sequence in which those options appear before you.
Getting there faster—nay, first—doesn’t need to become an overriding tenet of our lives.