Simple Answers for Simple Questions

When I talk to my children, I find that their problem solving approach is so much more straightforward than mine. I ask a question and they fire back an answer. There's no intense deliberation or internal cost vs. benefit evaluation running through their brain. They're not seeking additional data or analytics from internal or external sources to benchmark or get best practices. They're not throwing out questions to social media to try to crowdsource their solution. There's something incredible binary about their decision-making. They take it in, and give an answer based on what they feel.

So for example I mentioned to my seven-year old son that I had been reached out by a recruiter for an opportunity in Houston, Texas. I (tongue-in-cheek) asked him for advice and he looked at me and advised me seriously not to take it. "Why?" I inquired. He paused and said, "Houston is in Texas and it's very hot down there." Apparently what the position entailed, the salary and the career opportunities beyond it were irrelevant. To him it was a simple matter of whether he thought our family should live there or not. And the answer was 'no' because he didn't like hot weather.

Now one could counter that (1) his decision-making is pretty lousy and (2) his life is conveniently filled with choices and decisions which are simple and straightforward, such as "Would you like to have an apple or banana with your lunch?" or "Do you want to do a fun activity before or after you finish your homework?" He's not exactly dealing with the decision of paying down his mortgage balance versus putting excess cash in an index fund or agonizing about how one should confront a friend who is cheating on their spouse. Also, the stakes are often higher; Daniel chooses the wrong dessert, he laments about it for thirty minutes; my mistakes might alter my family's financial security and change the trajectory of people's lives and happiness. Those are all valid points.

That being said, I wonder if I, as an adult tend to over complicate things. Do I unnecessarily over-analyze things and agonize over decisions which lead to results which are ultimately outside of my control?  Can I more easily react to questions with a simple assessment of "Do I think this going to be good for me and my family or not?" Is there a spiritual discipline component to this where I'm failing to live underneath the truth of God's sovereignty and good plans and purpose for my life and my family?

Daniel's right about Houston, anyway. The downside of the hot weather clearly outweighs the upside of being able to see Jeremy Lin play for the hometown team.