Cost After the Cost
Something dawned on me recently. I was triggered by this thought as I was talking to someone about my personal car chronology. When I turned 16, I had a sweet Camaro. I painted it Carolina Blue, after my childhood idol, Michael Jordan. I loved that car so much; probably too much. However, about 18 months after getting my license, the dumb teenage boy in me made a bad decision, and I totaled the car. It was a very sad day in my world.
After that, I purchased a 10-year-old Honda Civic. It was anything but flashy. In fact, it was as opposite of my Camaro as you could get. It was an ugly brown color and had old-school flip-up headlights. It went from 0-60 in about 15 seconds.
After driving that car into my second year of college, I replaced it with a pretty amazing Acura Integra. Black, sleek, stick shift, bangin' rims. To this day, it's my favorite car I've ever driven. I still think about that car. I drove it into my late 20s.
Back to my epiphany. The highest quality of life and the happiest I ever was was when I drove that old, ugly Honda Civic with the flip-up headlights. It wasn't because I loved that car; I didn't! When I really think about it, that was the only time in my life (until my late 20s) when I didn't feel the burden of ensuring my car was pristine. That was a subversive little cost I never really considered.
Long after we pay for things, we still carry a cost. The cost of taking care of it. The cost of making sure it doesn't get damaged, lost, or stolen. The cost of storing it. The cost of feeling the pressure to use it (after all, we paid good money for x thing). There are costs after the cost, and each silently and slowly takes a toll on us.
I think about this idea when I look at my various possessions. Every possession I own has a cost after the cost. This isn't inherently a bad thing, but it can be when we stack up the costs. This is why materialism is so dangerous. Without knowing it, we're signing up for endless costs after the cost.
As I dip my toes into minimalism, I can feel myself being freed from these hidden costs. Every item that exits my life, and subsequently every item that I refrain from bringing into my life, increases my quality of life more than it decreases my standard of living.
Therefore, the more I watch my quality of life improve (despite my standard of living slipping), I smile. I realize I've found a secret code to life that I never knew existed. Simple is good. Simple is always good.
Today, pay attention to the costs you're carrying well after the initial cost. See how each possession in your sphere puts some form of burden on you. You'll see it....if you're looking for it. Warning: You can't unsee it.
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