The Trade Off

I was reading today and came across the most interesting story about a devastating trade off. As I read I thought to myself, “How stupid! Don’t these people realize what is going on right now? How could the leader allow such a thing, and for what?”

Finishing up my critical thoughts I realized I had just smacked myself right in the face! Impatience, losing sight of the goal, and even an unhealthy idea of self worth can all cause a devastating trade off.  I am pretty sure that I have made some trade offs in my life based on the same criteria. Chances are you have too. The trade off often leaves us with trinkets and forgoes the treasure that was waiting. It’s like trading a Bentley for a beat up Pinto … not even this simple girl would knowingly do that!

Think about impatience ... You see the treasure only to find out that it is much farther than you realized and in the moment it seems like forever. But wait! What’s that, oh it’s a little trinket to pass the time and gain some instant gratification. You know like setting an entire bag of Oreos in front of a child and telling him if he can wait 4 hours you will give him the entire bag, or he can have one right now and forfeit the bag. Impatience would tell him to go for the one because 4 hours is forever. Quite frankly when we are talking about a bag of Oreo cookies versus one Oreo this mom would say go for the one too, but that is solely from a health conscious view :) I thought about using broccoli for the example, but it just wouldn't have worked.  Or how about this ... save for several years and be able to book a dream vacation paid in full, no debt incurred, or put it on the credit card, go this coming summer, and pay on it for the next 20 or 30 years.  You get the point!

Losing sight of the goal ... Has this ever happened? The cards are stacked against you, your fears are on high alert, and your friends have jumped shipped, but there was a reason you started and it was because you had a goal, a treasure to reach. The only problem is that a million things have blocked your sight and you no longer know why you are here. You want accomplishment, you need something to move so you lay down the pursuit of the goal and settle for an easy “win” only to find out that it was no win at all. You made a trade off.

Now on to self worth. Do you find yourself valuable? Are you worth the prize or do you just find solace in the trinkets? Chances are that if you are constantly settling for the trinkets, you are going to find yourself unfulfilled. This could play out through an array of relationships, constant change of careers, or even placing yourself in degrading and unhealthy environments.  If you don’t know your value, please take a moment to read an earlier post I wrote highlighting your worth. Unless you believe that you are worth it, chances are you will never hold out for the treasure.

So here is what I was reading, found in the Bible, the book of Exodus, chapter 32. Moses had gone up on the a mountain to meet with God.  He had been away for a bit so the people became impatient and asked for a golden calf, an idol to be made so that they may worship it. Casting off their gold jewelry and the gold jewelry of their household, a golden calf was made.  The people brought sacrifices and offerings and worshiped this thing; celebrating it as if this idol had released them from bondage in Egypt when in actually it had been formed by the hand of man.  Now maybe you don’t acknowledge God or believe in the bible, but stay with me and to see the point. This congregation of people had seen mighty works from God.  He had feed them, released them from bondage, and split the Red Sea. Then they traded that power for a golden calf made by the hand of man.  That most definitely is like trading a Bentley for a beat up Pinto.

Final point, be careful of your trade-offs.  Know the difference between treasure and trinkets.