Ignatius really means it when he says that we need to be “indifferent to all created things.” In his Principle and Foundation at the beginning of the Spiritual Exercises, he says “we ought not to seek health rather than sickness, wealth rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, a long life rather than a short one.”
To make it even more challenging, Michelle Francl-Donnay suggests that we write our personal version of that sentence, inserting things we especially love and loathe. This is hers:
I should not fix my desires on wet socks or dry feet, placemats or tablecloths, silence or noise, order or utter chaos.
Here’s mine:
I should not prefer Mozart to Lady Gaga, New York City to Las Vegas, steamed lobster to a tofu burger, baseball to soccer.
It’s very hard to be indifferent.