“Ah, the choices we make,” my boyfriend uttered, completely astonished at how much a fabulous pair of Manolo Blahnik crocodile slingbacks costs compared to his most expensive shoes. It made me think of the paradox of choice: the more choices we have, the less happy we are. Faced with so many options available, we are fraught with ambivalence and tend to question the one we chose. We become less certain if we took the right path. The inexorable examination of choices – the what-ifs and all the I-could-have-done-that, I-should-not-have-done-this, is-this-really-what-I-want that go on and on in our mind - is what makes us less happy.A few days ago I was listening to a podcast that discusses the results of a study on marital happiness among women conducted in 2006. Surprisingly the study concluded that homemakers are more content, happier than their working counterpart. Why? Not because of the "limited" choices that housewives have but because of the commitment they bring to what they chose to do. Also, it is the level of commitment that couples bring to the relationship that determines their happiness.
Being committed to the path we've taken surely won't make us less happy. Instead of asking, “is this really what I want?” perhaps we can start telling ourselves, “This is what I want!” Let’s see if it makes us happier.
1 comments:
just read this one. it's not that housewives has limited choices but housewives think more of the families common good than buying the unnecessary one.
yes true enough "happiness is a choice"
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