Simple vs Easy-Part 1B
The Power of Silence
“The essence of being human is the tension between our biological impulses and our moral aspirations.” – Robert Sapolsky
-Moosehead Lake, Maine
In Part 1a, I discussed how we’ve allowed technology and use medications as a crutch, and how our daily choices determine what we have in life. (Or, what we don’t have.) As I’ll discuss in a future post, the last 2 years of silence allowed me to apply this to my own life.
The decision to finally live a “normal” life without the maddening hustle of being an entreprenuer was a gift on multiple levels. Not only could I observe the reality around me, I now know what it’s like to work a FT job and try to fit in the proper workouts for my age and gender, along with prepping meals.
I now read emails from health experts and say what many others feel…
“Easy for you to say, you don’t have to juggle xyz. You have the time and resources (or knowledge) to do all those things.”
When I refused to work from 4a.m. to 7p.m., it became clear where it’s easy to slide into unhealthy patterns. And while I never stopped prepping or working out, I understand the hubrous many of us in the coaching/wellness world have. I now see how that comes across to our readers… the last 2 years have been VERY humbling.
I had to figure it out. Again. How to prep meals, deal with our business and home life, get in workouts, and plan for the future. WITHOUT working before sunrise and all the way to sunset. If I didn’t use the decades of health research, teaching, coaching, mentoring, and cooking I have, we’d fall into the same trap I observe repeatedly.
Most of us use technology to save us time now—later paying for the convenience with weight-loss pills or shots, or medications to comfort our aches and pains.
We “don’t have the time” to do care for ourselves anymore, so we rely on pharmaceuticals or technology to do it for us. Once you reach a certain age, it seems “that’s the way it is.” As I’ve said for years, that’s a lie we’ve accepted as truth. Age does NOT have to mean pain, multiple medications (aka polypharmacy), and hours spent with doctors, pharmacists, and insurance companies.
The average elderly person spends 3 weeks a year in various medical appointments. 3 WEEKS! This isn’t what they meant by the golden years, nor a representation of retirement that we have to accept.
A word of caution, too—once you’re too far down the road of medications, the side effects of coming OFF those medications can be risky. As risky as some of the side effects of all the medications? Maybe. Maybe not. Point is, as you increase medications, you increase the need for more and more of them.
The solution lies between our ears and at our fingertips. It’s choosing SIMPLE over ease.
Our commitment to choosing easy over simple is destroying humanity.
Here’s an illustration of the cost of ease, along with some tough love.
Consider the use of Door Dash, UberEATS, or having someone deliver your groceries. The ease and convenience costs more (like food at gas stations and convenience stores), with some of these delivery companies charging $4-22 for a single delivery. (1),(2)
Recently, a co-worker justified spending $30 at Walmart (twice!) to get free delivery, when she only needed $15 worth of groceries, if that.
Math wasn’t my strongest class, but even I can see how that doesn’t math out…
These companies profit on our poor time management and lack of planning, stealing from our present and future security. I don’t know about you, but I also don’t trust others to pick my produce or get the right items in my grocery bag… but I digress.
Usually, the use of these services is sheer laziness.
I understand there are outliers and situations where this is necessary. But most of us can use a drive thru or prep our meals in advance. We opt for ease over simplicity because ordering food is easier than spending a couple of hours prepping meals.
We do this though we are fully aware prepping is cheaper and healthier for us.
It’s no secret that eating out leads to obesity and leads to illness. That leads to a future of time off from work, lost pay, and mental and emotional pain. While this seems hyperbolic, there’s plenty of research to support it, as well as anecdotal research.
If you’re still of working age, consider who’s out sick the most and work backwards about what led to it. Do this from a place of curiosity, not judgment. This isn’t a pass to place blame on others, but to play detective and learn more about society and yourself.
Since future costs are hard for humans to imagine, let’s look at the tangible costs of these “easy” delivery services. We’ll multiply how much the delivery alone costs per year.
If we average $20/week on meals and delivery fees (which is gracious from what I’ve seen), you’ve lost about $1040 annually. Talk about increasing your stress level in the future…
“How will you sustain this lifestyle?”
As a coach, this is one of the first questions I ask when someone considers a lifestyle change. I ask this because we often can’t see how we’ll need to create habits, get skills, or how it’ll affect everyone else in their lives. This is why most New Years resolutions fail.
To sustain all these “easy” food deliveries, you often need 2+ jobs, depending on your individual situation. You now reduce time with your family, meal prep, movement, and necessary moments of relaxation even more. Eventually, there’s resentment and fighting with your spouse over finances, which is a major cause of divorces. (The current estimate is about 40%.) (3),(4),(5) Been there, done that…
Now consider the cost of stress to your health: higher cortisol levels, fat gain, and the weakening your immune system. When you’re older or battling a life-threatening illness, these subtle costs are significant. By then, it’s almost impossible to make changes.
This certainly isn’t easy, after all, is it!? THIS is part of the lie of aging—how our small choices compound over time, leading to illness—and that this is normal.
The average elderly person spends 3 weeks a year in various Dr’s offices.
Let’s expand this further and look at the bigger impact on society. Consider those contracted by these delivery companies: drivers and businesses.
I’ve had the pleasure of knowing delivery drivers in the previous 2 jobs I had. Delivery companies are horrible to work for, and they cut profits from your local business by reducing their profit margins. When shareholders need to increase their profits because of these reduced margins, prices increase for you.
This is business 101 and has nothing to do with the propaganda you hear on the news.
The drivers for delivery companies see the $200 they can make in a day, while having a flexible work schedule. What they don’t consider is the gas price, vehicle repairs, the cost of disputed deliveries, and oh… taxes. If you aren’t a business owner or know how to be self-employed properly, please do not choose this as an income stream. It’s not as lucrative as it seems.
As an aside, $200 isn’t much more than a regular 8-5 job pays, which takes out taxes for you, and may offer future financial benefits like a 401K or health insurance.
If you think this is anecdotal, there’s a kid who completes financial audits with folks in so much debt, you may almost lost sleep over it.(6) The show is also amusing in that Jerry Springer sort of way, so you’ll definitely enjoy it. He often meets with people who Door Dash for a living… you’ll also see how small missteps lead to a crisis.
This is everything we ignore when we hit that delivery button. Humans aren’t wired to think that far ahead, so it’s understandable.
Just because we’re not good at something doesn’t mean it’s impossible, though. We have the ability to plan, or we wouldn’t be able to achieve the 5- and 10-year goals we set. All you need is guidance and a strategy.
WE make all of this happen by supporting our desire for ease over living SIMPLE. And WE can choose differently by not choosing these delivery services. Stop cutting profits from businesses. Stop stealing from your financial future. Stop increasing your risk for health conditions.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t enjoy putting money into local businesses and the economy. Nor am I saying there’s never a time to use a delivery service, or that we shouldn’t ever eat out. But I am concerned with the society we’re creating with these “conveniences.”
If you want to live SIMPLE in your golden years, I recommend scrutinizing the “conveniences” of today. And while everything above seems dramatic, there’s plenty of research to back all of it.
We can do better. You DESERVE better!
Payoff: Your choices need to support your 5-year plan, at best.
Yours in Health,
Alicia
P.S. If you’ve never heard of Robert Sapolsky (the quote in the intro), I encourage you to explore his works about human biology and evolution. You can find some of his Stanford University lectures on YouTube, and his books on Amazon. “Behave” is a personal favorite.
(1) Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats: Which Delivery App Has the Lowest Fees?
(2) Best Grocery Delivery Services
(3) Money and divorce statistics
(4) What Percent of Marriages End in Divorce Because of Money?
(5) Financial infidelity, credit card debt behind one-third of divorces