I’ve been rolling this idea in my head for a while, and I think now I’m finally ready to write it. This is a little different than some of the other posts I’ve written recently. But, as always, I believe in sharing what is on my mind.

I was talking to a coworker the other day. He had accepted a different teaching job at a new school that was closer to home among other things for him. I asked him if pay was similar, and he said, “You’d choke if you knew how much I was taking a pay cut.” It’s no secret that teachers are paid minimal amounts. The district I work in received a grant a few years ago that they put all towards teacher salaries. So comparatively, I’m paid well within my field, but I’m still not paid well overall.

However, when talking with my coworker, I responded to his pay cut comment with, “Cost isn’t always about money.” And that’s the truth. See, this specific coworker lived over an hour away from my school. He was having to get up extremely early just to make it to work on time. Also, he was having to drive a highway for most of the time. This new job he’s taking has little to no highway driving and cuts the time in half. He’s still going to be doing fine for himself and doing what he loves to do.

While this was one example, what I really want to stress here is that cost is not always about money. There are other things that influence cost as well. Some of those include time, livelihood, wellbeing.

You could be in a job you absolutely despise but making an obscene amount of money. Is it worth it to you? It very well may be. But it may also not be worthwhile. Or, conversely, you could be making minimal amounts of money in a job you absolutely love. Again, is it worth it? There’s no right or wrong answer. It’s just something to think about.

Let me give you another example. When I joined taekwondo, one of the things I had to think about was cost. I was looking to learn something new, but was it worth it? This was going to be coming out of my paycheck. Well, obviously you know the answer. I decided it was worth it, and I’m still involved. I still pay, and I still do it.

I think this post is also good to mention this week because it’s Memorial Day here in the United States. This is the holiday where we specifically honor those who died either while fighting for our country or could not get out of the battle when they came home. It’s for those who paid with their lives.

I see posts, stickers, t-shirts, and other forms of media that say “Freedom isn’t free.” And they’re right. Here in America, we had to fight for our freedom. Not only did we have to fight for our freedom, but we had to fight from one of the most powerful countries in the world at the time: Great Britain. Men, women, and children had to make decisions of whether or not to stand up for themselves, and those decisions all came at a cost. But they decided that it was worth it for them and set the precedent for the next two hundred plus years.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion is the idea that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. You can apply that principal to the idea of cost. For every benefit you come across, there is some cost associated with it. It’s up to you to decide what is worth it for you and what isn’t.

I’m a planner by nature. Most decisions that I make are calculated, understanding the pros and cons or the costs and benefits. Sometimes that’s a bad thing because I can be indecisive. However, that also usually means that I recognize exactly what I’m doing before I do it. By the time I am ready to make a decision, I have determined what it will cost me and accepted it (or at least made peace with it).

Let me go back to my first example with my coworker. To him, the cost was worth it to take this new job. I support his decision as much as it pains me to see him leave. The cost was worth it for me to join taekwondo. I earned a black belt, and in the process, I have discovered so many things about myself I may never have known otherwise.

Very few things in this life are truly free. Your decisions and actions almost always have a cost associated with them. It’s up to you to decide what is worth your cost and what isn’t. No one else can really make that decision for you. I could give example after example about this. But that probably won’t change anything until you can recognize it for yourself. If you don’t know where to start, here’s what I recommend. Sit down with a sheet of paper and a pen. Write down an area of your life where you maybe feel unsure or unhappy (I choose this because you probably have already accepted the cost of the areas in which you are happy). Ask yourself and answer honestly: what would it take for you to be fulfilled/happy/satisfied/etc.? Write down your answer so you can see it. Then, take some time to list the ways that that feeling is being blocked. That’s your cost. Final step, see if you can change or accept any of those costs into a benefit for yourself.

Let me close with one last example. When I was applying for colleges, I kept a notepad with me for the car ride home. Almost immediately upon leaving the campus I was touring, I would write down a list of pros and cons about that specific school. I made my final decision based upon those lists. Money was not the only thing I considered. No factor was too big. Some schools were too far away. Others did not have the programs I wanted. I pondered all of the options available to me, and I chose to attend the university that I believed was best for me. Now, the school I chose was not perfect by any means; however, because of the school I attended, I was able to meet some great people that are still my friends today, learn a number of interesting things I may not have learned elsewhere, and student teach in the same district I’m still in today. My life has been directly impacted by the place I chose to get my degree. The costs of that school (and not just the tuition and the books) were decisions I accepted, and I believe I’m much better for it.