I just got back to the cottage after the morning ride, and I’m brewing a cup of tea instead of coffee. Tea has less caffeine than coffee, right? I took “Double Cross” on the ride this morning instead of “Trucker.” A lot less bike and baggage, several pounds less, I imagine.
It’s obvious that with some things, more is better, and with others, less. More muscle, less fat is pretty obvious, or more time on the bike, less on the couch makes sense most of the time. More money seems like an obvious one, but that’s more complicated. Chasing more can take a lot of time and energy, leaving less to spend on other things.
I started thinking about it yesterday when I switched back to my iPhone 12 mini. A few months ago, Vickie upgraded her phone, and since Xam had cracked the Gorilla Glass on my mini while playing keep-away, I decided to switch to Vickie’s old iPhone 12 Pro, which had more cameras and more screen real estate.
The thought was that more would be better, but it wasn’t. I did use the telephoto camera a few times, but I missed a number of photo opportunities because I left the phone at home, since it was too big to carry. The monstrosity wouldn’t fit in half the pockets of my sporting togs, and when it did fit, it was like dragging a boat anchor around.
More can be heavy and uncomfortable. That’s the problem with more. It gets out of control after a while, and you can’t keep up with it. It becomes unmanageable. I know the reason I get disturbed when I see the “more is better” mentality in folks is that it mirrors my own struggle over the years.
I want to wake them up and explain the dangers of chasing more. That everything has a cost and that getting more of this means less of that. Do the math! Are you sure you want to sacrifice that to get this? As an old man, the one thing that I want more of is time. There is no time to waste, which gets clearer with age. Spend your time wisely!
