It is interesting to recognize the thresholds that we have to overcome to do certain activities. I am most conscious of this in my own life in regards to recreational activities, which are usually less of a deliberate priority to me. Opportunities that are more difficult to take full advantage of usually have a higher value in our minds.
For example, I have a dirt bike sitting right outside my door, and lots of space to ride it, yet I have rarely done much with it for the last couple of months. Other people have to haul there bike somewhere else just to use it, and they still manage to do that every week. The motivation to put that much effort in, comes from how much they value the time they spend doing that, but that value is not entirely dependent on how much they enjoy it. There is also an expectation level for accessibility that we become accustomed to.
Something that is easily accessible usually decreases in perceived value over time. I don't go skiing in Southern California , not because I don't like skiing as much as other people down there do, but because it doesn't seem worth it to me. I have a hard time justifying spending three hours traveling each way, to go do something that I used to have available just an hour from home when I was growing up. (Not to mention that the snow is nowhere near as good down there.) It is not that I don't enjoy the experience as much, just that I don't value it at the same level as people who road-trip all night to Mammoth for a couple hours on the slopes.
The same principle applies to the way we develop and maintain relationships. When I lived in LA, I used to host large BBQ events every time I returned to NorCal, to see all of my friends at once. Those were a lot of work, and I actually didn't always get as much time to talk with people as I would have liked, but it did at least give me the opportunity to see everyone while I was in town. Now that I spend most of my time living up here, I don't do that nearly as frequently as I used to. I actually BBQ much more now than I used to, nearly everyday because the threshold is much lower now that I have my own grill outside. But since it is no longer out of the ordinary to do so, and it is not unusual for me to be in the area, I don't necessarily invite people over to celebrate the occasion.
Sometimes it feels like I saw my NorCal friends more frequently when I lived in LA than I do now that I moved back up North. Either I am not putting as much effort into connecting with them now that they are (relatively) more easily accessible, or they are not putting as much effort into seeing me. I am not sure which reality would be more troubling, but one issue would certainly be easier to rectify. It could also be a perception thing, since I could be seeing them exactly as much as before, but spread out over my longer periods of time in NorCal. Regardless of what the exact case may be, ideally I should be spending more time with them now that I am up here more, especially since I am spending a lot less time working.
Those low thresholds lead us to take certain opportunities for granted. Looking at how much more accessible God is to us than he was to the people of the Old Testament (now that the “Curtain” is torn) can lead us to the same conclusion. Are we fully taking advantage of that opportunity, or does that just cause us to undervalue that relationship as well?
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