Opportunity Cost (Making Choices)

Have you ever been in a store with just enough money for one special thing? Maybe you saw a super-fast toy car with shiny red paint, but right next to it was a huge box of colorful building blocks you could use to make a castle. You can only pick one. As you stand there thinking, you might feel a little pull in your tummy. If you choose the car, you can't build the castle. If you choose the blocks, you can't race the car. That little feeling, that quiet question in your head asking, 'What if you picked the other one?'. That’s me. I am the secret trade-off you make every time you decide. I am the other path, the fun you didn't choose, but that's okay because you are on a different, wonderful adventure.

For thousands of years, people felt my presence whenever they made a choice, but they didn't have a name for me. It was like knowing a friend but not knowing what to call them. People knew that choosing to plant corn meant they couldn't plant beans in the same spot. They knew that spending a sunny afternoon napping meant they couldn't spend it fishing. Then, a very clever man named Benjamin Franklin got closer to understanding me. In the year 1748, he wrote something very important: 'Time is money.' He meant that the time you spend doing one thing is time you can't get back to do something else. He helped people see that every choice has a hidden price. But it wasn't until much later, in 1914, that a thoughtful man from a country called Austria, named Friedrich von Wieser, finally gave me my official name. He called me Opportunity Cost. It sounds big and serious, but it's really just a fancy way of saying 'the cost of the opportunity you miss'.

I am with you every day, in all your choices, big and small. When you decide to run around outside with your friends, I am the quiet afternoon you could have spent reading a book. When you choose to save your allowance for that giant teddy bear you want, I am the small toys and yummy candy you decide not to buy each week. At first, thinking about the things you miss might seem a little sad, but that’s not my secret at all. I am not here to make you feel bad. I am actually your guide, your helper. Understanding me is like having a superpower. It is the superpower of choice. It helps you look at your options and decide which path leads to your biggest goals and happiest moments. I help you see that every choice you make builds the story of your life, one wonderful decision at a time.