Whether we are fully conscious of the fact or not, everything has a cost in life. Every decision involves some kind of trade-off. Living our lives purposefully means being aware of our value system and making decisions that are in alignment with our essence as human beings.

NOTE: Photographs have been added to serve as visual breaks.

As we go through life we may have some idea about where we are at a given moment, but the future remains unknown. There are often twists and turns in the road. We can we end up someplace that was not our original intent. Sometimes our lives seem to not have any purpose or meaning at all. We’re like a ball in a pinball machine just banging around aimlessly until our time is up.

Challenges appear before us that require effort. Determination. Courage. Sometimes we choose to meet those challenges, and at other times we may avoid them. Avoidance may reduce our fear in the short term. The cost is not developing our talents and deepening our understanding of ourselves and our true capabilities.

As a male living in Canada I have a 44% chance of getting cancer at some point during my lifetime. My wife has a 42% chance. A relatively small amount of that risk is genetic. Most of the risk is lifestyle choice.

Like most other people we are aware that diet, exercise, stress and exposure to toxins contribute to our cancer risk. We can ignore those factors and eat highly processed foods. Avoid exercise. Be overwhelmed and stressed out by what other people think of us, or by world events. And, be careless around chemicals and emissions.

There is a significant cost to the lifestyle choices we make. How we choose to live our day-to-day lives directly impacts the kind of physical death that we will eventually experience. That’s the ultimate cost of our lifestyle choices.

I woke up this morning. Based on my current age and the average life expectancy of a Canadian male there’s a good chance that I’ll wake up another 6,000 times. If I continue to make good lifestyle choices and stay fit and healthy I may have the potential to add 3,500 to 7,000 more mornings to that total. One thing is certain. The number of new mornings that I have in front of me are far fewer than the ones I’ve already lived.

I can choose to follow narrow philosophic dogmas, whether they be political, religious or cultural. Whatever I choose to follow may soothe me in moments of doubt. They may give me black and white interpretations of current events, and tell me what I should think and how I should behave. The cost is a loss of critical thinking, of loosing my freedom of thought and expression.

How we choose to spend and consume has a cost beyond just financial considerations. When we take on debt we become prisoners of it… slaves to a paycheque. We live in an illusion that we own a house or a car when we still have mortgage and loan payments. As long as we have debt the financial institution owns those things. If we fail to make our payments those things will be taken away. The cost of debt is an increase in stress, and a loss of freedom and choice.

We can make seemingly small, habitual purchases without considering the real cost of those acts of consumption. Buying a couple of cups of coffee a day could cost us $5 or $6 or more a day. Over the course of 50 work weeks that’s $1,250 to $1,500 a year. During a 40 year work career we would have reduced our potential retirement funding by up to $60,000. Plus the growth potential of that money over time. Based on a modest annualized return of 3% a lump sum of $60,000 would grow to $195,722 over 40 years.

We can allow ourselves to fall prey to the opinions that other people have of us. Many people spend money on brand name clothing, make up and grooming, and whatever is deemed to be currently fashionable in terms of hairstyle. Not to mention a plethora of branded consumer goods. All to curry the favour of people that likely couldn’t care less about our wellbeing.

When I was in my formative teenage years I used to pay a barber to cut my hair. My last paid haircut was a disaster. At that point I decided that I’d learn to cut my own hair. School chums were horrified. I’ve been cutting my own hair for over 50 years. My first attempts were pretty bad, but I got better with time. As I’ve become more follicly challenged, the task has become much easier. I have no idea how much money that I’ve saved over the past 5 decades as that wasn’t my goal. Paying a barber came at the cost of being less self-sufficient and independent.

I still make apparel purchases when needed. In 2021 I purchased some shoes, one pair of pants and a belt. There was nothing else that I needed. Earlier in the year I went through my side of the closet and removed everything that no longer fit properly, or that I hadn’t worn for some time. All of that clothing filled 8 large, green plastic bags. I donated all of that clothing to a charity in town. I live with a very simple philosophy. If people care more about how I dress than me as a person, I don’t need them in my life.

When my wife and I decided to have children she really wanted the opportunity to spend a much time as possible with them. We became a single income family and learned to stretch our available cash flow. That meant buying used clothing for the kids. Avoiding eating in restaurants. And doing our best to eliminate impulsive purchases.

We live in a small town and wanted to maintain that lifestyle for our children. When I advanced in my corporate career I spent 15 years commuting 150 kilometres daily. I negotiated flex time with my employers so I’d have more time in the evening with my kids. That meant waking up at 4 AM every morning and leaving the house at 5 AM for my commute.

Everything has a cost in life. The sooner we realize that and begin to make well informed choices, the less stress we will feel. And, the richer our experience of our life will be. The worthwhile things in life are far more important than materialism and mindless consumption.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced using my standard process.  This is the 1,103  article published on this website since its original inception.

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