Use it or lose it...

Category: People

Published: 01/17/2009 07:37 p.m.

In a recent conversation with Meg, she told me about how she recently bought some pomegranate seeds. They were $6. She said after eating a few that they were much more bitter than expected. She did not like them, but she finished them anyway. Her logic and thinking was that they were expensive and she didn't want to just throw them out. I would have thrown them out.

Her process of decision-making was influenced by a couple of factors. She acknowledged that she did not like the seeds. They were expensive, according to her. Her regret in buying something she didn't like was a reason to act one way, and her dislike of the taste was a reason to act the other way. The regret side won out, meaning that she would have felt worse by feeling wasteful than by eating a bitter fruit.

My logic is much different. Right after the first bite I would not have had anymore. I would experience some regret, but there is no reason to give myself another reason to feel bad. The 1st bad decision was purchasing them. I think that cutting my loses and tossing the fruit is the better choice. I also experience some regret, but it does not weigh as heavily to me as it does to Meg.

As much as I think that my decision is right and her's is wrong, it really isn't that simple. Aside from the two factors I already discussed, I could also take issue with considering a $6 item as being expensive. And perhaps she was raised to always finish her plate at dinner, which was not how I was brought up.

The big picture is that these types of decisions are made all of the time. People make emotional decisions about small things. And while I don't think the small decisions make a difference in the long run, I think the process does. People make illogical decisions to soothe emotions and it becomes a habit that can affect the long run. For instance, spending too much time at a dead-end job or relationship because of the fear that you may feel worse when you are jobless or alone. And it's not even about the bad decision which has caused the new decision, it's about not making the second bad decision. There are many opportunities like this in life and even if you do end up making the emotional choice, being aware of why you are making that decision is crucial.