Pursuing Veritas

sil· ver bul· let (noun): “a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem.”

Everywhere you look, people advocate for silver bullet solutions to life’s problems.

Want to lose weight? We’ve got a drug that will make that happen.

Struggling with your energy? Try this supplement.

Kid having a hard time with school? Just use this parenting hack.

Know you need to drink more water? Buy this water bottle.

Need purpose in your life? Listen to this podcast.

Not getting the answers you want from your doctor? Try this alternative medicine.

Need to get out of a rut and do something new? Read my new book.

Struggling to make ends meet? Use this budget hack.

Tired of the way the world works? Just elect this political candidate.

Silver bullet solutions are everywhere. Whether you need help with a health problem, finances, relationships, or something else, someone somewhere (and certainly someone online) has just the right thing that you need to try and — presto! — Before you know it, everything will be fixed!

But silver bullets—what Oxford University Press defines as “a simple and seemingly magical solution to a complicated problem” — are just not what they are made out to be.

Few of life’s problems are easily fixable with one choice, decision, medicine, approach, or app. Our lives are composed of a complicated weave of tangled webs and influences, shaped by years of decisions and often unconscious habits and choices that all shape who we are and what happens in our lives. Rarely will one thing cut through the knot of life and fix what ails us.

Now, I want to be clear: sometimes, there are better choices we should make. Changing our habits and choices can help us experience better health and wholeness. But we need to be realistic with our expectations.  For example, if your health is influenced by hundreds of small choices and histories all combined into who you are, making one change is unlikely to dramatically revamp your life. That change may be beneficial (and it may even have grander consequences than you imagine).

But can we stop talking as if this silver bullet or that supplement or that habit is going to revolutionize your life without requiring hard work, consistency, and other changes as well? Let us be sober about what change requires of us—and let us begin to make those changes today.