The Decision Matrix

I am trapped in the matrix of decision-making.

Now that I am a bit older, I care more about my health, and we have a tad more disposable income than previously experienced (well, until next week when we pay tuition for my Master's Program) my life's decisions have gotten more complicated.

There was a time when this was enough:

But those days are over.  When was the last time any of us actually bought Suave?

Right.

So I have decided that as I have aged the thought process that goes into even the smallest decisions for buying hair care, skin care, food, and clothing has evolved to the point that I can rarely feel good about buying much of anything.  But I am going to write this post to liberate myself and anyone else out there who feels constantly guilty about one of the following criteria:

--Affordability (do I have enough money for this thing?)
--Functionality (does it actually work?)
--Health (is it good for me?)
--Joy (do I like this thing?)
--Stewardship (is it good for the planet?)
--Humanity (were any humans hurt in the processing or packaging of this item?)


I have realized that I am not going to make all of those things happen in a single item, so what I am going to do is require myself to only think about THREE of these things at a time.

For example, one of my favorite products, something I buy weekly:

Let's analyze this by my old guilt:

Do I have enough money to buy this thing? YES

Does it work? YES (I feel good when I eat it)

Is it good for me? Complication. Stress. Yes, sort of, but it is not organic so is it kind of not good for me?

Do I like this thing? YES

Is it good for the planet? Complication. Stress. Yes, if it is locally grown but no if it is shipped. And if it is local, is organic? If it was local and organic, was it grown on a sustainable farm? If no, than it is not good for the planet.

Were any humans hurt in the processing or packaging? Don't know. There was no fair trade label, how do I discover this information?


Do I buy this thing?  Um.  So... we have three YES answers but in the old guilt, I have to feel bad about it not being organic, not being locally grown on a sustainable farm, and not knowing the labor practices of the farm from whence it hailed.  And I have to look something up on my phone while shopping, thereby slowing me down and making me question whether the other items in my cart are worth equal effort.

So let's try this again with the new matrix and a different item:

Can I *afford this thing?  YES
Does it work?  YES
Is it good for me? YES

Should I buy it?  YES.  I don't need to discover its origin or if it is environmentally friendly because I have already answered three questions in the affirmative.  

Feeling better?

Not me.  I still feel guilty.

So for all you libertarians out there, wouldn't it be nice if the government just limited all the non-environmentally friendly, non-humanitarian products?  My life would be so much easier. 

Happy shopping.


*Disclaimer:  My definition of affordability is different from my husband who would claim that this shampoo is not affordable.