Variety is a good thing...right?

Tonight Jeremy and I decided to stop by KFC for dinner. Thing is...we couldn't agree on what we wanted. I wanted a bucket of grilled, he wanted Original Recipe. Alyssa didn't care, she was just bummed that we were still going to be eating at home instead of in the restaurant. But, she doesn't stay bummed for long, so really she was pretty happy.

In steps the VARIETY BUCKET! We got the grilled chicken, the OR chicken strips, and Jeremy's favorite, hot wings! Boom, everybody's happy!

But, this got me thinking...there's so much variety in our world these days. Nobody ever has to give up what they want, or at least it seems that way. But, is all of this variety really a GOOD thing? What about when we're trying to teach Alyssa that you don't always get what you want? Could she argue that she could as long as we get a Variety Bucket? OK, OK, I am NOT blaming KFC for all the ails in the world and all of the problems with kids these days. Besides, they wouldn't sell the variety bucket if people weren't buying it, right? And, that goes for restaurants and retailers in general.

So, where is the problem? Is it with advertisers who dream of schemes of getting us to believe we deserve more, more, more?

I believe it's more of a human heart condition. It's a base desire to have everything we want right when we want it, isn't it? Advertisers in our country have just figured out a better way to tap into that desire.

It all goes back to free will. Sometimes I wish God would have made my heart in such a way that the only things I'd ever desire are the things that please Him, the things that are good for me and for others. But, that's up to me, isn't it? I've got to pursue that harder, less immediately gratifying path toward pleasing Him instead of myself. He doesn't push it on me. He simply waits and watches as I try Variety Bucket after Variety Bucket and eventually decide to turn to the ONE THING that truly satisfies my soul.

Hmmmm...all this from a bucket of KFC. Maybe it's indigestion. Regardless...I'm starting to think about it. How about you?