“There is an opportunity cost for everything we do. This is why we must have the awareness to ensure that what we are pursuing is really what we value, because the pursuit leaves countless lost opportunities in its wake. We choose one experience at the sacrifice of all other experiences.” — Chris Matakas, The Tao of Jiu Jitsu

As we grow up we begin to encounter the reality of opportunity cost. Simply put, when we do one thing, we naturally can’t be doing another thing. Compound that fact over time and we grow into a completely different person than the person we’d have been doing that other thing. Now multiply those two options by a lifetime of options and we see the challenge of choice in a person’s life.

For every hike not taken, there’s an opportunity cost of not having been there. On the other hand, hiking has its own opportunity cost in experiences not shared with friends and family. Writing this blog every day costs me time I could be working out more, or walking the dog, or getting a head start on the day. I spent many years of my life not writing every day, and there was surely a cost to that too. Life is full of tradeoffs. The only guarantee is we’re running out of time every day we live.

We ought to consider opportunity cost in our decisions, but weighed against the return on our investment. When the return is high enough, it becomes worthy of our time. Time is life after all, and those grains of sand aren’t being refilled in the hourglass. Spend wisely, but don’t regret what was left undone while chasing something with a high rate of personal return. Regrets are a waste of time better spent on the next opportunity.