Sometime last week, I got some lunch and then went for ice cream before going to work. The person at the ice cream shop messed up my order and I only fully realized it once I got to my car. I ate a few bites, didn’t like it enough to keep eating it, and decided to just throw it away rather than making a fuss or trying to eat the rest of it. That turned out to be a great decision as I had eaten enough lunch to feel slightly uncomfortable at work. I’m sure I would have felt horrible if I had eaten all of my ice cream, so I’m glad that I got the wrong order and ditched it.
I didn’t throw it out right away as I wanted to make sure that it wasn’t what I ordered and also see how it tasted. When I decided I didn’t like it, I thought of sunk costs right before I threw it away. Sunk costs is an economic concept that involves costs that cannot be recovered and thus should not be taken into account when making future decisions. The money I spent on that ice cream was gone and I wouldn’t have gotten any of it back or been in a better financial position by eating something that I wasn’t enjoying. If it made me uncomfortable or sick, I’d have been in an even worse position, so there was no point in trying to force myself to eat it in order to avoid feeling like I’d wasted money. Knowing this made it easy for me to get rid of it and move on.
This is a good example of life giving me what I needed instead of what I wanted. If I had gotten what I wanted, I probably would have eaten most or all of it and felt miserable at work. Because I didn’t like what I got and ditched it, I avoided bringing that misery onto myself. It’s often difficult for me to be satisfied when what I get isn’t what I want but occasionally I’m clearheaded enough to recognize that it’s sometimes better to get what I need even if it isn’t what I want at the time. I was able to recognize this at work that day and I hope this little anecdote helps me remember that lesson when I come across it elsewhere in life.