Is unlimited really all it's cracked up to be?

• We can go anywhere.

• We can do anything.

• We can watch whatever we want.

• Read whatever we want.

• Listen to whatever we want.

• Eat whatever we want.

• Anytime. Any place.

But let’s be real… it’s a lot.

It’s overwhelming + exhausting. A never-ending cycle of one decision after another. No wonder I feel decision fatigued.

Don’t get me wrong- I’m grateful to have choices. To tailor my life to what works specifically for me, what I enjoy most, etc. etc.

But there’s just something about the concept of: Confinement in my decisions- that’s resonating right now.

It all started with music…

I hadn’t been listening to new-to-me things because I didn’t even know where to begin. I’d open Spotify and… search for what? How? I’d end up scrolling for longer than I listened.

I immediately thought about how I missed the radio. Simply turn on a station and hear something new. (For better or worse) it was curated for you. The only decision I had to make was which station- and then: “you get what you get.”

Then I noticed… music was just the beginning ↓

1. We want to travel more and explore the world with our kids… but the destinations and Pinterest suggestions are endless.

2. We go to watch something and Youtube provides an infinite stream of suggested videos.

3. I read an article and 10 more pop up.

4. We get pulled in every direction by our pinging phones.

I shared this note because it feels like this same phenomenon:

Confinement is what I’ve been striving for instead:

Not in a restrictive sense but in a bound state vs. a continuous one. Choices that come with guardrails so an endless stream of doing doesn’t happen. i.e.:

1. Watching DVDs- We’ll put this one on, watch it to the end and…. it’s the end.

2. Shopping locally vs. the never ending list on Amazon.

3. Listening to CDs in the car (yep- you can still get new artists at the library!)

4. Cooking from a cookbook.

5. Making a list of the places we want to go and then letting Google Flights show us what’s within our budget to visit now.

6. Limiting the toys so we shift our focus to what’s most important to us.

7. Keeping our phones on Do Not Disturb with limited apps so it’s more like a “home phone.”

The list goes on and on but as I integrate this idea of “bound” + confinement:

I’ve got to say…. it feels so much more peaceful.

So…. is unlimited really all it’s cracked up to be?

From where I stand now… I’d say something in the middle, something more balanced, something a bit confined- feels better to me.

---