Problem of Plenty

Everytime I am seated in a restaurant with menu card, I get confused and sometimes frustrated too...frequent dine outs and having a vast menu poses a great challenge to choose a perfect dish which will make all happy and satiate hunger buds tastefully. With exposure to global cuisine the task of mother or cook of house has increased manifolds in kitchen too..everyday there is a new wish..Italian, Chinese, northindian, southindian, street food, and so on.Sometimes I feel it was better if we knew limited cuisines..Variety is definitely important but if it becomes a regular feature it becomes little difficult .

My observation of surrounding world has made me conclude that our and our next generations have started facing problem of plenty. For instance, a common feature of kids play area is parents discussing what extracurricular activities to enrol children. Dance-bollywood, freestyle, classical, ballet, vocal -light/classical/western, skating, basketball, karate, craft, swimming, chess and so on..Enrolling children for extracurricular activities is necessary for all round development, but we should take child’s preference, their likings into consideration. Many a times children go on enrolling for different activities randomly because of so many choices around.I guess this cannot serve any purpose. Jack of all trades master of none, is the outcome finally.

It is becoming hard to please, with array of options easily available .Nowadays birthday parties are regularly held at restaurants .Pizza ,burger outlets, playzones in malls are the most preferred choices. But lately I have seen children getting bored of visiting parties and eating there. The excitement seems to fade away after 3-4 times. I remember in our childhood birthday parties used to be at home only, outing at restaurant use to be a once/twice in a month activity.So parties at restaurants had their own charm. Nowadays after hosts spending a bomb on such parties also, kids are overheard saying parties were OK kind.

My father gifted me a Barbie when I was in second class..its more than 25 years..but I have still kept that Barbie with me..Barbie was just introduced in India at that time. My joy knew no bounds and feeling of joy is constant till now. But now our daughters have all kinds of Barbie, their dressing set, kitchen sets, bathing accessories and so on. I guess almost all kids have so many variety of board games and toys..some are really costly like beyblade, automated cars,Playstations. Inspite of having so many toys, at the end of day kids are seen asking what should they play and get settled for mobile games or watching TV.

This applies not only for kids but for us too. Whenever I have to go out and I open the wardrobe I many times feel I don’t have the apt dress for occasion. The wardrobe has no space but still there is gap..Whenever we go to buy cosmetics confusion starts from the brand and then goes till shade, texture, lasting effect, after effects J.I have seen people changing their handsets frequently. Every time there is some advancement there is temptation to go for new technology..Same with cars too..There is an upsurge of brands. We are tempted to try new brands now and then.

Availability of choices is definitely a boon. With technology all are well informed .With growing economy, double income people tend to afford variety too. But I feel somewhere these choices are creating some problem.I wonder whether our kids will value what’s available to them??They may start taking everything for granted. Our generation has seen luxury items becoming affordable with lot of hard work .Impulsive buying was not a regular feature. So somewhere our generation is conscious of material possessions .But will that be so for our next generations??Many households keep multiple TV sets so that everybody can watch as per their choice.but than what about family time and family bonding..??With so many food choices and availability children may stop appreciating special dishes and the hard work put in making them. How will our next generation feel motivated in life if they miss novelty and interest? Boredom will keep on creeping every now and then in their lives.

I recently did an experiment with my daughter. Her vacations are going on and she was feeling really bored with all toys and games..I gave her some kneaded dough and asked her to make recipes of her choice. She really started enjoying it,she started using leftovers in kitchen like vegetable peels to make her dish beautiful ..This was a different experience for her. We need to make them search for and settle for options available around sometimes. Every time going out and buying some new game will not work. This will inculcate habit of little adjustment which is very crucial in long run..

I guess we have a big responsibility to make our next generation conscious of making wise choices and to value the things around..to see the less fortunate people around before demanding any new unwanted items..many people feel what’s bad if we give all to our children since we can afford. Question is not of affordability but of maintaining interest in long run. We should by our own behaviour try to set example before them. Life should be a little adventurous..some struggle ,some hard work should be put in to enjoy any activity and event in better way. The happiness, the satisfaction and the motivation is necessary to keep life interesting and worthwhile. We should train them to improvise with existing options, excel in whatever activity they take up. This will not only save money but space in our houses too. We should train them to donate things before adding new to collection. Limiting choices will limit mental and physical strain too.

Plenty is good..plenty is happiness..plenty is comfort..only when we are conscious about the efforts put in to achieve that plenty and everything is optimally used..children are small to understand bigger picture but we can at least take smaller steps to protect them from problem of plenty in future..