Happiness is no longer imagining an opportunity cost once you've made a decision.
Let's unpack.
First, a definition.
Opportunity cost is what you're giving up to get what you have.
Like many things, you can think of this tangibly, like a $100 dinner for two, could have been four different trips to the grocery store spending $25 each time to many dinners for two. Or you can think of it intangibly, like two hours out for dinner, could have been two hours spent at a neighbour's house playing cards.
Typically, you might think about opportunity cost before you invest your time or money or some other resource you value. Used in this way, it can be a very valuable tool to help you make a decision.
The ugly truth is, sometimes you also think about opportunity cost after you've invested something you value.
In these moments, it's important to remember something about an opportunity cost. It's not real.
Sure, spending money is real, spending time doing something is real, but the idea of spending money another way or time another way, is just that ... an idea.
Back to the first line of this post, I think a key word here is imagining.
We have some level of control over our imagination, so what if we just stopped imagining opportunity costs?
Happiness is available to you right now. Just don't do the math.
p.s. If you've got two more minutes, I think this post pairs well with Sandcastles in the sea.
