Unlocking the Creative

I think a lot about stewardship. In many ways, it’s easier to be poor. There are limited choices that you can make with your resources. As you grow in resources of time, talent and treasure; the amount of opportunities and choices exponentially increase. 

When I went to UNC for a semester, I took an economics class. One of the principles I am still remembering almost 20 years later is that of opportunity cost. This is the hidden, difficult to assign a metric or value to, reality that no one talks about - the cost of the choice that you make vs the choice you didn't make. If you choose to go to this university, then you have not chosen to go to hundreds of other schools. The job you chose dictates where you live and where you spend your time versus taking a another job which might have led to a totally different living situation. Opportunity cost is neither inherently good or bad, it simple is what it is.

But when I think through stewardship, opportunity cost is a significant aspect of my thought processes. Life is the sum of the things we have made priorities as a result of our choices. How do we prioritize and weigh the value of at least two competing choices that are often screaming at us? Part of wisdom is the ability to discern and then make the choice today that we will be glad we made tomorrow. How do we cultivate wisdom? I believe having an appreciation and awareness of opportunity cost while we are thinking through our options is one of the keys. 

We speak a lot about needing a financial budget, however, I once heard was that we should also have a time and an emotional energy budget, as they are finite resources that we have to steward carefully. It is in those two budgets that I most carefully think through opportunity cost. 

One way I do this is I try to think through the tasks that I must accomplish during the day and assign a monetary value or cost to them to clarify their priority in my day. Washing the dishes: that costs around $10/hour. Entering in bookkeeping data: well, that can cost $25/hour. As I think through the what I need to do, I begin to ask myself: what is the cost of me doing all of these things and not doing other things? What I can delegate and consolidate so I can spend that time on what only I need to do - that which I am called and specifically gifted to do? 

If I had to say what my two unique gifts I bring to the world were, it would be the gift of friendship and the ability to think/problem solve. As I plan my time, emotional energy, and even my money, I place emphasis on these two priorities in my life. This means my dishes don’t always get done. But sometimes they need to get done so I can  have a place for people to come and visit me and feel comfortable. This means I may need to employ a creative solution as to how to get those dishes done. Maybe it means I don't always buy the newest clothes when I want them but instead I provide a job for someone who needs it, get those dishes done, and have the time I need to think/problem solve and invest in relationships.

Weighing opportunity cost many times unlocks the clarity of thought I need to find the solution to prioritizing my life so I can achieve the goals that are in my heart. My deep desire is to live as purposely as I can and not end up at "Oops."

As I thought through why I started this particular blog, it is because these are some of the fundamental aspects of how I think. When you look at my life and my choices, underneath them, most of the time, has been some aspect of this thought process because one of my main beliefs is that we will be accountable for how we steward the number of talents we have been given. So, I often ponder the parable of the talents. They each got a different amount of talents. But the bottom line wasn’t how many talents they had but the attitude of faithfulness towards them. Many times I want to lament about not feeling like I am a 5 talent gal but then I have to shift gears and think about how I am being faithful with what I have been given?

He is not asking me to be what I am not. He is not asking me to do what I cannot. He is asking me to count the cost and be faithful with what I have been given.

Grace and peace,

Wendy