Cafeteria

Our world has become a virtual cafeteria providing limitless selections for all areas of lifestyle, occupation, religion, and pleasure. Daily we are bombarded (yes, it really feels that way) with opinions and information which leads to choices. All too often, we forget that it is also a choice to not choose something. To highlight the daily onslaught of sound and video bits is not to condemn it. Quite often there is valuable and informative information that will bring value to our lives. Conversely, it is important for us to develop filters that will allow us to digest and assimilate the information that truly is beneficial to us. We are told that at a very early age we develop our worldview and opinions about who we are and how we will live. Not that we have finished learning, but certainly have begun to lay the foundation of who we are. Our identity. Once the groundwork is laid, through the remainder of our lives we take in what is necessary to survive and in part to thrive. In a way, we learn to filter the barrage of information to what we prefer, or what edifies us in our various passions and interests. While we do take in that which we “need” or what “serves” us, there is also an exhaustive amount of additional choices that we face each moment of every day. It’s part of life. How should we navigate? How do we deal with the endless smorgasbord of tempting offerings thrust at us continually? While there is a seemingly endless supply of offerings to choose from, I would submit that it is not necessarily one big cafeteria, but many different. Compare it to restaurants. While we have all kinds of foods available to us, we may have to visit a specific eatery in order to satisfy our individual pallets. Just as in other parts of our lives, we may choose to subscribe to information streams that resonate with our foundational beliefs. There seems to be a couple of different ways, as a world culture, that we deal with all the information. There are those that try to take it all in and have very universal thinking, “open-minded” as some may call it. On the other hand, you may find those who focus very sharply on a certain way of thinking or acting and isolate all other streams of thought. I would submit that it takes a certain balance of both to stay healthy and informed. It is good to know what is going on around us culturally, politically, and socially. It is beneficial to have knowledge of the necessary tools being innovated to navigate this complex life. Also, it is good to be able to filter the unnecessary out of what is necessary to us and focus on what we absolutely need to survive, flourish in our jobs, and interact with others. Finding the balance is not an easy thing in our culture. Much of it I would submit, is no more than a distraction. It is dangerous when the distractive portions of information become important or even obsessed. What is important is to clarify our foundational truths and beliefs. Who are you really? Why? What do you love? Why? What orders your daily life? Why? How? What are your chief passions in life? Why? All questions we should be asking ourselves daily. What is the central truth on which we build the rest of our lives? Here are some considerations that I find helpful in navigating the vast sea of endless choices: The moral choice- why am I here on this earth? Is it for good or to do harm? What are the non-negotiable truths that I believe and seek to live out? (And do I have a foundation? or am I blown about by the winds of popular culture) What do I absolutely need to survive and also navigate the life I have been given. What do I enjoy when I have downtime? Considering the above (and there may be more variations) we can begin to get back to our roots or in some cases, finally find a fertile place to send our roots deeply into. It is important to focus, and sometimes it is also beneficial or prudent to re-focus. As we learn to balance our diet, we begin to flourish. We are no longer exposing ourselves to loose opinions, hedonistic delights (for the sake of always being happy), or reckless banter from those who would express themselves before thinking it through. With no foundational structure, we are untethered and drifting through culture with no direction or purpose. Sure we might find pleasure and interesting things along the way, but we have no central core that defines us. I hope today we can all continue, or, even begin to think it through. It is only when we can define ourselves that we can be useful and beneficial to others in a culture tossed about by high winds of influence for good and bad.