A few months ago, I lost a precious part of my life—my beloved 300-disc CD player! I know, I’m probably the last millennial to own the archaic piece of technology, and I am unashamed of that. I loved owning physical copies of music, and being a huge fan of the shuffle function, I even enjoyed the old-fashioned buzz as it spun to the next disc, building the anticipation of the wonder of what might play.
On the tragic day of its demise, I had a choice to make: replace it or finally go digital? Let the record show my preference was, in fact, to replace it, but given that the price has skyrocketed for the few that remain on the market, I opted to join this century. Nonetheless, I spent months gradually converting my vast collection.
After I finished with my regular stash, I moved onto the albums I set aside once I’d exceeded my 300 limit. While doing so, I was reacquainted with songs I hadn’t heard in the better part of two decades. Though I recognized the majority of them and shocked myself by still knowing the lyrics, some of the titles and artists seemed entirely foreign. I had to listen to each song to determine why I ever purchased it.
Those instances drove home to me how fleeting our tastes and ideals can be. Sure, those one-hit-wonders are still great tunes and meant a good deal back then, especially, but reflecting on it now, was the album worth fourteen bucks (of my parents’ money) for a single song I can barely remember today?
Granted, a teenager foolishly spending her folks’ money on a whim is hardly monumental. However, you have to consider what it underscores about our decisions nowadays. We want to believe we’ve outgrown those times of making poor choices based on emotions and lack of experience, but our relative frailness as humans never leaves us, does it? While our experience can work for us and spare us unpleasant consequences in one area, new, uncharted circumstances may take us by surprise and reveal a deficiency we didn’t know we had. When we find ourselves in such situations, we’re advised to compensate for our lack of past experience by looking ahead to the future. True, we haven’t been there, either, but we can nonetheless evaluate the cost, so to speak. Minor or major, our decisions each have a price, whether it be forsaking one outfit for another or taking on a house that’s going to need a slew of repairs for years to come.
A little imagination and memories of past achievements or mistakes make it easier to assess the true cost of a choice. Can we envision this metaphorical investment being worthwhile in five years or even five months? Or will it be like buying that album with a single one-hit-wonder that you won’t even remember after it falls off the billboard charts? You can never get refunds or trade-ins on costly decisions, so you’d better ponder if the price fits the rewards instead of making an impulse buy.
When it comes to material appraisals, what matters in the end is typically somebody else’s opinion, like a so-called expert or buyer. Similarly, reflecting on how others view our actions can also keep us in check. Of course, we shouldn’t be slaves to other people’s opinions, but at the same time, our choices often indicate who we really are. Plus, good relationships can be part of the price we pay for rash decisions. Wouldn’t we prefer to be a treasured role model for somebody, as opposed to a cautionary tale?
Just like we’d protect and a maintain a cherished heirloom in hopes we’ll continue enjoying it and increasing its value, so we should take care of the life, reputation, and relationships we build. That way, we’ll end up with a collection of decisions as valuable as sealed Elvis Presley records, rather than forgotten one-hit-wonder CDs!
KarinaBartow.com 
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