This past summer marks the first time in my life that I’m living on my own. Not with my parents, not on campus, but in an apartment where I have to cook for myself and remember to pay the electric bill. In the heart of Nashville, my new address is just a stone’s throw away from both I-65 and Belmont’s campus, just down the road from a Kroger, and minutes away from both my internship and downtown.

Long story short, it’s convenient.

And while we may not think about it, if you were to ask American citizens what drives our society, after the typical answers like money or power, love or acceptance, status or prominence lies convenience.

Even though the apartments were cheaper 20 minutes outside of Nashville, I opted for the more expensive one for convenience. And I’m not alone because for better or for worse, convenience is what drives us.

On the surface, convenience is harmless. It’s stopping at the gas station closest to your house rather than driving across town, even though it’s a few cents cheaper there. It’s picking a 9 AM class over an 8 AM even though the professor is worse.

And things like that are harmless. But convenience also has a deeper grasp on us and that is what’s hurtful.

We end up making sacrifices for what is easier, faster and more accessible. Rather than holding out for what we know is better, we settle. It’s a trade off and we’ve been tricked into thinking we’re getting the better end of the deal.

Spoiler alert: we’re not.

We pick universities out of the ease of convenience, our friends are ones of convenience, even the jobs we hold are taken out of convenience. Because we’d rather settle on a school than put in the time to find one we truly love. We’d rather settle for a job because it’s easier than moving across the country. We’d rather have friends we moderately like and see often than ones we truly have a connection with but have to make an effort.

There in lies the deception of convenience: that what we give up in order for our lives to be easier is actually worth it.

Convenience will always be the go-to. Minimal time, minimal effort. That’s what we want. Why spend the time, say, finding a recipe, making a trip to the grocery store and cooking something when you can pop frozen meal in the microwave and have food, ready to eat, in minutes? It requires so much time, so much work, when there’s an alternative that literally requires you to do nothing. But you know it’s not good. You know the vegetables aren’t fresh and the meat lacks flavor. But you’re willing to live with it.

When it comes to meals, maybe that’s okay. Maybe in the craziness that is life, a frozen meal doesn’t matter. But then I ask is that frozen meal representative of your life? Are you taking the easy way, the way that needs neither time nor effort, rather than going after what you actually want? Are you on the path of least resistance simply because it’s more convenient, never mind that you had to give up on your dreams to take it.

Please, don’t be deceived. Convenience hurts us; it robs us of fulfillment and some of the most meaningful experiences that life has to offer. Sure, it may be easier. It may be less time consuming and require less work. But is it worth it? Is it really worth it?