I thought of my Family, Church, Friends, Work, Jiu Jitsu etc.
I read an article that was written somewhere that asked the question to one of the top BJJ guys how much they would accept in compensation to go back and have not started BJJ at all. The answer was no amount because of what I have learned and the friends I have made. It had nothing to do with the Medals he had earned or the other tangible things. It was all about the knowledge he had gained and the relationships that he had made.
I was thinking if this was a good way to judge how important something is to you. If we can put a price on it then maybe it is not that important to us.
For example if I could ask for all the money I have spent on Candy Bars or Ice Cream or some other vices to be put back in my bank account and not have any memories from those things or benefits that they gave me removed I would take the money in a heart beat. I think of many things I have spent money on that I would exchange my experience with those things for monetary reimbursement. Some times we spend the money and really get no long term benefit out of it and the short term benefit does not create any lasting memories. (Think Captain Crunch Cereal).
The things on that list must not have been that important to me. This includes Cars, Motorcycles, Fitness Equipment, Clothing and many other things.
So what are some of the things I would not take the money back for but would rather keep the knowledge I have learned from those things.
Learning to Speak Chinese is very valuable to me. This is something that I spent many hours and much time working on and I would not take money in exchange for not being able to speak Chinese.
Doing Jiujitsu is also high on the list. I have worked hard to gain the knowledge I have gained and I lost 60 lbs from the workouts and have met people who I would never have come in contact with if not for BJJ. If someone offered me a large amount of money and told me that everything I have learned in BJJ and all the people I have met in BJJ would be
foreign to me and I would be 60 lbs heavier I would not make that trade.
Family Vacations are experiences I have had that I would want to keep even though some of the cost of them were very high. My Church experience. The knowledge and things I have learned at Church and the friends I have made are very valuable to me and would be things that I would not just give up. Being able to raise my Children in the Church has no price tag on it.
I think this is an interesting thing to think about and a good way of self evaluation on what we find important to us.
What things in your life would you not exchange to get paid back and what things would you exchange. I have a bunch of extra inventory on those hoverboards that not only would I exchange but I would be willing to get rid of at less then what I paid because they have a very low value to me.
In our lives we have deals like that. Things we have done (bad deals or extra inventory) that we would be better off just taking the money back. Then we have other things we have done that we would not exchange that experience for any amount of money.
They have that one commercial for Rosetta Stone that says "wouldn't you rather learn a language then have another pair of shoes?" My 14 year old who is usually in the car with me says she would rather have the shoes. When I was 14 maybe I would rather have the shoes. This is an interesting commercial to me. I think it is easy to take the shoes but maybe we should be filling our lives with worthwhile endeavors things that are more valuable in the long run then a "New Pair of Shoes"
