How much of what happens around the world in terms of wars, tragedies, poverty, disease, political chaos, natural disasters, climate change, and so on really matters to the average person on a daily basis, assuming you live in a generally stable environment?

You could spend your whole life worrying about all the problems of the world, but at the end of the day, how much of it really has any impact on your everyday life?

I’ve got friends who get panicked by every little tragedy thousands of miles away, engage in endless conspiracy theories, and get consumed by the idea that whatever we’re told is the opposite of the truth. I often sit there asking myself, why should any of this stuff even matter to me anyway?

My life is simple. I’ve got enough money to cover my expenses. I live in a comfortable place. Nobody bothers me. Most of the time, nobody threatens me. So I basically use one indicator to decide whether any of these things really matter to me or not. And when I say matter to me, I don’t mean it in a selfish way. I mean in the sense that it’s going to disrupt my ability to comfortably exist.

Probably the one thing that contributes most to sustaining my health and well being is a high protein diet, and my major source of that is chicken and eggs. I realize I’m simplifying it a bit because, of course, we actually need lots of other things too. Clean water, shelter, clothing, medicine, sleep, sanitation, exercise, and human connection all play a role. But at the end of the day, I want to pick one thing to use as a gauge. If I can still afford to buy enough chicken and eggs to keep myself healthy, then it tells me that, despite whatever is happening elsewhere in the world, my own life remains fundamentally stable. That means many of those other tragedies don’t really affect me directly, provided I choose not to devote my attention to them and instead focus on my own longevity.

Before you get fixated on the chicken and eggs and start telling me I should be eating something else, bear in mind that this is simply a way of applying a more simplified view of the world. It’s a way of deciding whether, despite all the chaotic and unfortunate things happening around me, most of which are completely out of my control, life is still fundamentally sustainable because I still have access to my basic needs. If that’s still true, then maybe I don’t need to spend so much of my energy on everything else that’s so peripheral to my everyday existence.

I could be oversimplifying things, and perhaps there are flaws in this way of thinking. But I’ve found that reducing life to its essentials makes the world feel a little less overwhelming.

And no, this isn’t a chicken and egg situation. It’s just my chicken and egg philosophy.

For me it’s not chicken and eggs, it’s weed and hookers, but otherwise everything me same same you. 😂