Almost everyone at some point wants to experience something great in life. Experiences can range from something as small as having your first kiss to something much larger like winning an international talent competition. Or if you are in the middle like the average person you may simply want to travel the world—just to visit as many countries as you possibly can and live to tell the tale. This is all well and good except many don’t consider the cost of these experiences.
What Experiences really cost?
Money is the obvious cost that will quickly come to most people’s minds. After all, unless you’re well off it’s going to cost you a pretty penny to go to Las Vegas for two months. And it would cost even more if an entire family is going to be part of the trip.
Some people save and plan for months to go on a trip; it’s not uncommon for some to have to save for years, because life isn’t cheap! They save and save until they feel that they’ve earned the right to go on their long awaited vacation. And then they finally just take that big step and do it.
They take that vacation, enjoy themselves and have a great time. During the aftermath, they post all of their spectacular pictures on Facebook and Instagram to show off their experiences. Then six months later, they are forced to tighten their belts because they are continuously strapped for cash. The bills seem to have become uncontrollable and the refrigerator better not choose to conk out now unless it wants to be bombarded by a barrage of nasty expletives.
Experience costs are real
The hard truth is that too many people do things and then think about what was done after. They claim that life is too short and that you only have one life to live. So they live it up as soon as possible in order to not feel as though they didn’t really live at all. The cost living like this, however, can affect you so much more than you may realize.
First of all, regardless of what is commonly believed, a trip is not a necessity. It is a luxury. And the feeling that you may need to visit a new country (or any at all) is really just that … a feeling. Whether you go to a new country or not does not literally make your actual life any better or worse. What it does is fuel a perception that you are actually “living life”. However, what you may be doing is sacrificing the real freedom to actually live it later years.
The constant quest to have new experiences, especially when they cost a lot, plus the need to have to save for it will constantly keep you broke. Worse, you can’t even consider it to be “keeping up with the Joneses” because the true Joneses would not need to save to go on an expensive vacation. This simply translates to the simple fact that you should live within your means.
Think through your Experiences
The second aspect of cost that a lot of people don’t properly take into consideration has nothing to do with money; it’s more related to health and self development. It may be worth clarifying at this point the exact definition of an experience.
An experience is commonly known to be an event or occurrence which leaves an impression on someone. When you properly evaluate this, a few things can become clearer.
Is it that some people are not yet impressed with themselves? So they constantly crave experiences in order to feel satisfied with their lives? Why do things need to make an impression on someone for them to change their way of thinking or to see the world in a different light? Perhaps they may have never considered that desiring new experiences may be no different from craving the next shot of nicotine. No matter how many times they experience something new in life they always seem to want more.
How Experiences can cost you truth
It may be relatively easy to misinterpret what is being said in this article. But those who properly understand the advantages of delaying instant gratifications for bigger payouts later stand to gain the most. Of course the naysayers will be quick to argue this point; they will say, so what if you save all of your money and you die before you ever get a chance to use any of it? And my response to that is, so what if you really do die before? Because if you constantly need new experiences to feel alive then there’s a good chance you’re already dead.
The point is there are more than one way to experience new things in life. And more importantly, there may be better ways to experience things that you believe can only be experienced one way. No one says that you can’t enjoy yourself and take breaks from life. But always ask yourself: what will the the cost be for continuing to seek new experiences long term? Will seeking these experiences keep you in debt? Will it prevent you from retiring 10 years earlier? Or will it cause to you to become too obsessed with experiencing the next new thrill? Maybe all of the above. But how about not forgetting the many great experiences that you already have privilege to in the present?
Don’t lose yourself to Experiences
Experiences are good but so too is appreciating all the great things you take for granted each day. Be thankful for life. Be thankful that you wake up in the morning and have the strength and health to do the things you love. And be thankful that you have just enough energy to get to and from your work. In your last days some people claim you don’t think much about all the money you made; it’s also likely you don’t think much about those pictures you posted online for everyone to see what you experienced.
The experiences in the end you are more likely to think about are those that made you a better person. You would also likely remember the experiences that helped change the lives of others for better. And for many people, it’s only then that they may realize something greater. It is those soulful experiences that may actually cost you almost nothing that leave you with the most meaningful feelings. There’s just something beautiful to be had when you stop chasing new experiences at the cost of everything else. You become more content, more humble, with each passing second … of each passing day.
