Opportunity Cost

I made a D in economics. I couldn't help it. The professor bored me to tears and smeared his hand through his overhead graphs and this was before I learned I actually needed to study to pass college courses. But I do remember one lesson clearly. And I'm sure it was the lesson on Opportunity Cost which saved me from a flat out 'F.'

I think he caught my attention when he mentioned pizza. He explained it like this: If you are hungry and have one piece of pizza then you're happy. If you have 2 you may be happier. But if you have 3 you may wind up with a stomachache. Your happiness may go down. And if you buy the pizza instead of something else that could make you happier then this phenomenon is known as Opportunity Cost. Here is the dictionary definition but pizza makes more sense to me...

opportunity cost
noun Economics
the loss of potential gain from other alternatives when one alternative is chosen : idle cash balances represent an opportunity cost in terms of lost interest.

I feel like most of my decisions should be dictated and scrutinized in terms of Opportunity Cost. But then, because I am impulsive, I jump in and later agonize over the decisions I've made and whether my choices will make me happiest.

I think in this term mainly after making big decisions. I occasionally rue the vegetables and brown rice I order instead of Pad Thai, of course (but yes, that slimmer tummy will make me feel better in the long run!) but it's not something that rules my life.

Having just moved back to California from my hometown of Austin, however, tends to evoke these concerns. Was moving my husband and our dogs the best thing for all of us, for them?

While thinking about moving back to Los Angeles I was blinded by the opportunity to return. A second chance, if you will. We aren't losing friends. Just moving farther away.

But now we're here and I'm racked with worry over the Opportunity Cost. And it's about way more than eating too many pieces of pizza and feeling ill. It's about if I can make my family happy somewhere else.