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The Lie of Optimization

ByKelly Keller

If you could multiply one resource in your life at the moment, what would it be:

  1. Time
  2. Energy
  3. Money
  4. Chocolate

OK, that’s a fake question. I didn’t make it answerable for you, because I’m doing that thing writers do where they want to drive at one of the answers. Sorry.

Let’s talk about time today. I’ll bet you feel like you don’t have enough of it. It’s August now…the new school year is approaching…your to-do list is probably growing, and these people still need to be fed every night. If you could just have a couple more hours in the day, wouldn’t you take them? I would!

Here’s a word that’s tricking all of us these days: optimization.

The other day I looked up the definition of “optimize.” Here’s what Merriam-Webster defines the word as:

“to make as perfect, effective, or functional as possible.”

Everywhere you turn today, there is a source of information available to you, telling you how to optimize.

  • How can you improve your time use? Here is a more perfect way!
  • What should you be feeding your family? Check this menu for the most perfect options!
  • What should your friendships be like? Read here to make your relationships even more perfect!

Look at that definition again. “As perfect…as possible.” At the end of the day, it’s a pressure cooker that offers no mercy. Even if you feel you have reached perfection, there will be another voice, another method, describing how you’ve fallen short and how you can do even better to be as perfect as possible. This is where your time runs out: in the pursuit of perfection. Perfection is the goal, ever sprinting away from us, just beyond our reach.

I can hear some of you protesting: what? I don’t try to be perfect. Nobody could look at my life and think I’m anywhere near that.

I simply want to suggest: you are pursuing the “best” or the “better” almost every single day. Do your kids eat food? That food should be more nutritious. Do they eat whole grain bread? You should be baking it yourself. Is it homemade? It should be made from freshly-ground wheat berries. Otherwise, your kids might as well eat dirt.

Nobody really thinks this. But do you see how it grows? The “better” becomes the enemy of the good.

In so many ways, improvement is a noble goal, and we should keep pursuing the better. Christians have a word for changing for the better: we call it sanctification. But sanctification means becoming more like Christ, and it has very little to do with how you wrapped the present for the baby shower or whether or not those dairy products in your fridge are organic.

We should try to make wise choices and do our best for our friends, our family, and our employer. But this tendency towards the good can easily morph into a relentless pursuit of better, better, and better. Where does it end?

You, mom of many littles, have the same twenty-four hours in the day that I did when I was raising my littles in the early 2000s. There are many things that are faster now: the news cycle, the speed limit, and the length of time it takes for something expensive to break (don’t get me started). What is not faster is the length of time in a day. You have plentiful hours in front of you. Do not let our optimization-obsessed culture prevent you from resting in that.

Say a prayer, be wise, and rest as you work.

“Cease striving and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10 (NASB)

Photo by Yaniv Knobel on Unsplash

Kelly Keller
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