We live in a world obsessed with quantity over quality.
We spend our lives focused on quantity; how many points, how much money, how many followers, how many square feet, how many calories. It is easy to lose track of quality because we do not know how to measure it. Quality eludes our fleeting attention.
Quality takes time. We live lives in which we spend time to make money, which we can measure. Each new model displaces the quality that went before it. We want the newest, even before all the bugs are resolved.
Quality can be a challenge. We say that we value quality, but are unwilling to make sacrifices for it. Most of us do not take the time to grind our own grain, bake our own bread, craft our own furniture. We trade the quality of our time for money so we can afford to buy things we do not make ourselves.
We sell the quality we have to make enough money to buy quality.
Some of us value quality. There are people who take the time to roast their own coffee, or brew their own beer. Some people make their own furniture. Some of us make a conscious effort to take walks, to reflect, to savor the quality of life. For many, though, our days include tiny pinpoints of quality surrounded by oceans of quantity.
It is not about living only for quality, disregarding quantity completely.
Life is about finding the balance that encompasses the extremes of the spectrum. Part of our challenge is being immersed in a culture that emphasizes quantity over quality so overwhelmingly.
Recognizing the challenge is how we begin overcoming it.
How will you focus on the quality of your life today?
What is the balance of quality and quantity for you?
[Image by Ashley Burton]
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