the_matt79

Worth it?

There come times in life when we are faced with choices, some small, some large, and we must ask ourselves, is it worth it. Is it worth the level of work it will take? Is it worth the challenge? Is it worth the frustrations we might encounter? If it isnt easily obtained, is it worth it? These are some of the questions that will float through your head as you contemplate make the choice, the move, the decision. Or at least these are some of the questions that will float through your head if you are like me. But, how do you ultimately decide if it is, in fact, worth it?

Deciding if something is worth it is, what I think, one of lifes biggest decisions that we make. Sometimes we dont realize just how big a decision it is, until well after we have made it. Looking back on things can be a killer when it comes with these types of decisions, because suddenly we see that something was worth pursuing, but we decided to go another route. This other route might not be wrong, but perhaps it was easier on us, took less effort, or just fit into the schedule we had at the time.

Is this wrong? Not as far as I am concerned. I believe that we do things for reasons, that we all have a journey we are on, and that the destination stays the same, but how we get there can change from one day to the next. Life is all about enjoying the journey you are taking. You wont always enjoy it, youll have potholes tripping you up and clouds blocking your vision, but if you can work through those, you get where you are going. The potholes and clouds are what we have to take into consideration when deciding if something is worth it.

These potholes and clouds can be money, time, distance, fear, people, and even yourself.

Money, one of the ultimate things that can hold us back from something. Do you have enough of it? Do you have the time to save it up? Will you have a way to get more once the decision is made? When deciding if something is worth it, these are things that will take up part of your brain for various amounts of time. Money causes stress as we think about what the hell we are going to do, and stress can sway a decision. It is times like these that you really have to dig deep and ask yourself if it is worth it. If you move to another country can you survive on less money while you get situated? If you pursue that person, will you have enough money to enjoy dinners, drinks, and destinations? No one can make that decision for you, but isnt life really too short to let money weight that heavy? It is, unfortunately, what makes the world go round, but isnt there always something else, another way, a means to an end that you can find when you really look? Money is a big thing in todays world, but there are so many more important things too.

Time is something that is very small, but can seem extremely daunting as well. Time gets in our way because we let it limit us. We think a decision has to be made by this date, or that we have to accomplish something by this date, when in reality maybe we just need to let something play out. I had a plan for myself when it came to getting my MA in anthropology, but that definitely played out at its own pace. Did this lessen the accomplishment? No, it really didnt. Hell, the chair of my committee told me I was one of the most persistent students he had ever had. I took that as a compliment, and felt better about my journey to that very thesis defense. Looking at a decision and seeing a time limit is something that will happen, and should happen when deciding if something is worth it, but that limit can be static too. Really look at it, focus on the ultimate decision before you let time weigh you down. If youre always working on it, youll always make progress, and if youre making progress, you are doing the right thing.

Distance is something that can take us from a comfort zone, take us from family, put us in a place that we dont know anything about, but is that all bad? Comfort zones can lead to complacency in what we do. Sure we are surviving there, but are we thriving? A change of scenery can be just what you need for that. If you have a close family that you love and depend on, distance is most daunting, but sometimes it is necessary for what you want to do in life. The thing about distance is that it makes the heart grow fonder. Travel is easier now then it has ever been, and gets better every day. If we see our families less, then we can appreciate our time with them more than we ever did, and this can make you even closer than you ever were, even if it is hard. Moving to a place you dont know like the back of your hand can lead to adventure, just make sure you have someone to tell you what areas to avoid, safety first people! Distances seem smaller than they did a hundred years ago, so really, it isnt that bad.

Fear, that filthy bastard that sneaks in and makes us rethink everything we were already sure of when we made the decision in the first place. Suddenly we dont know if it is worth it after all. We dont know, because we fear failing, we fear that it wont be what we want, we even fear success at times. Why must we fear all these things? Because we are rational creatures that think a lot? Perhaps, or maybe because it seems too good to be true? Whatever the reason the fear manifests itself, we suddenly might find ourselves back at square one and deciding if it is worth it after all. You can use that to your advantage if you work it right! You can look at the pros and cons again, to push the fear aside. You can reinvigorate your zeal for pursuing the choice you had originally made. Fear can be a deterrent, but it can also be extremely helpful. Use fear to your advantage, dont let it overtake you, and you will truly know if it is worth it.

People will find a way to chime in on your decision, sometimes you will ask them for advice, and sometimes they will do it all on their own. This is okay, but take it with a grain of salt. Ultimately you are deciding if something is worth it, you are deciding how you will go about accomplishing a goal, you, no one else. Of course you will want advice on a big decision, and you should know who will be the best sources of that advice for you. Go to those people first, and really listen to what they say. If you listen to what those people say, then what others say wont have as big an effect on you. In times when you are sitting with a decision to be made, and the only outside voices you hear are from those people you dont know as well, you can be put into a kind of stupor. Suddenly you start to wonder about your ability to follow through, or whether this is something you really should do, and that is why you need to reach out to your most trusted friends, family, and associates. Those are the people that will help you see if something is worth it or not.

Ultimately the decision is up to you, and you just might be your biggest hurdle to get over. Maybe you doubt your ability to do something, to move somewhere, to love someone, and those are reasons you get in the way. All the previous things I talked about come to roost inside of you, and that is a tricky situation indeed. You also have to decide what part of you is making the decision. Do you listen to your head, to what makes sense, what is logical? Or do you listen to your heart, to what drives you forward, what makes you happy? These are all valid reasons to decide to follow through on something, and any one of them singly can get you where you are going when deciding whether it is worth it or not. The best idea here is not to spend too much time within yourself, think quick, dont look back, and move towards something that is what you want, something that is worth it.

Life is full of choices to make, choices that are big and small, choices that are worth it, and some that are not. We will spend our life figuring out which are which, sometimes without even knowing it. We make these decisions and we put the work in to make them reality. We will fail, we will struggle, but we will also thrive, and we will succeed.

The failures are worth it, we learn from them, we grow because of them.

The struggles are worth it, we see what we are capable of, we see our own worth.

Thriving is worth it, we get to see just how much we energy we have, we see what our choices can do.

Success is worth it, we get where we are going, we get what we want.

Decide for yourself, put the work in, learn as you go, make it worth it.

Potholes and clouds come and go, but we remain, we are worth it!

As for me, I have decided that it is worth it, that you are worth it, and because of that, I move forward, I learn, I grow, I get better. My journey is far from over, but it is worth every single step I take to get there, and I believe that fully!