I may have missed a beautiful beach day, but from 5pm on, it was all mine. Meeting friends for dinner on a Monday night sure does take the edge off the start of the week, almost extending the weekend if I pretend hard enough. I haven't seen a few of my friends long enough to chat about their fabulous trip to Paris, but with no time to spare, we began making future plans for a new trip together. The eight of us eager to make travel plans. After a few minutes of discussion it was clear that too many opinions in the planning process will crush any plans before they begin. It's funny that each of us has preconceived reactions to vacation destination ideas, especially when it's about places never experienced first hand. Hopefully everyone will keep an open mind as Donna and I narrow down the choices and present the group with no more than two final options, seems the less choice the better in most cases. It's the Paradox of choice rearing its ugly head. Choices plague us, give someone a scoop of vanilla ice cream and their happiness level increases, when you ask someone what kind of ice cream they want out of multiple options, they regret the flavors not selected and are less happy than if just given one option.... paradox of choice. Oddly, studies show that people feel more strongly about choices when given three options or more, giving two options people can easily select and most importantly feel more satisfied with their choice with less regret. We're a funny species for sure. My kids still make fun of the fact they never realized pizza had topping options and subway made anything other than an Italian Grinder, I ordered what I ordered and all three kids were happy. As I sat at the table, listening to each persons reasoning for liking or disliking different vacation plans the Paradox of Choice was omnipresent. I had to chuckle a bit at how spoiled we are without even realizing it, seriously.... we're fortunate enough to be able to pick a vacation anywhere we want.... that alone should be enough to make each of us happy! My spoiled group had no complaints about dinner, as we indulged ourselves with delicious dishes, watching the fog roll in as we sat on the beach club deck as if it were a Friday night. We have plans for the beach next weekend, dinner and live music and future plans for yacht clubs and lavender fields....clearly the world is our oyster! I will appreciate each and every option in front of me with gratitude for the wonderful opportunities this beautiful world gives me and limit my options to friends to never more than two suggestions. I may even bring vanilla ice cream for dessert next week, just to test the ice cream study on choice and happiness... I'm sure my friends won't mind being my guinea pigs..
Comments
Post a Comment