Opportunity costs

I could be living beachside in south Florida working to end homelessness right now.

Do you ever wonder what your life would be if you had made one choice differently? Or why in the world you chose the choices you did?

I could also still be working for people I don’t respect or living in Newark, NJ. These are some nightmares that I am glad to have given up. Not that either of those situations were really that bad. And they did pay almost living wages.

Opportunity costs – the economic principle that states that you should consider the possible benefits you are giving up by pursuing a particular set of activities. (I had an economics exam this week – just go with it.)

Truthfully, this principle is a terrible one. (Especially if you consider it in hindsight.) It, like most of economics, is a way to make a simple task more complicated. Analyze this, it says. And ok, perhaps it is good to look at your options and consider what you would be giving up if you decided not to take that path, or that one, or this other one that also seems fine.

But at some point, you have to freaking choose. And the truth is all of the paths have merit and experiences worth having and benefits worth considering. So is it really, really that important to tally up the things you will be missing by not doing something?

Ok, ok. I suppose the point is: what are the benefits worth to you? Are you willing to give up a little stability for some education? Are you willing to give up a little money for the chance to gain some experience? Are you willing to leave a place or a job or some loved ones to escape melancholy, to pursue happiness?

Think about the people you have met, the places you’ve seen, (the things you’ve learned), the existential goodness that you’ve known. And this will lead to even better things, in all hopefulness. But I suppose that it is all relative. Better than what could have been?

Who wants to live beachside anyway?