Unless we’re born into very fortunate circumstances and manage to make great decisions at every phase of our lives and manage, let’s face it, to be incredibly just plain lucky, we’re going to have to make some sacrifices at some point.
These can be choices about education, career, family, health, but there’s one thing that’s certain: we’re all going to pay a price for the choices we make. It’s just a question of when.
To clarify, consider the following: one person makes the choice to study hard in school, early in life, to get a good education. Let’s say they become a lawyer. Because they paid a price early–maybe they didn’t party as much as their friends during college–they have may have more career options, earning potential, and financial security later.
Classmates who didn’t burn the midnight oil so diligently, however, may find themselves in a lurch upon graduation, with mediocre grades and an uncertain future. They pay the price, too, only later.
Maybe a young married couple decides to save money early in the marriage, live modestly, have children later. They don’t throw the big party at the new house, drive the new cars, max out the credit cards. Perhaps they pay a price for their choice and have financial independence ten or twenty years earlier than their friends and colleagues.
Most everybody will pay a price. It’s important to simply be aware: know the choice you’re making, know when you’re making it, and know why you’re making it.
It may make the tough times easier.
– BGT