Yesterday some friends gave Khaleef and I an impromptu invitation to a local carnival. I was happy to go, and took a $100 bill with me (all I had) because we don’t usually carry cash and figured we may want to play some of the games.

When we arrived I decided I didn’t want to carry my pocketbook, and so I placed it in the trunk of the car and after a couple moments of indecision, decided to put the money behind my phone in its holster on my waist since I had no pockets.

… I am sure you can guess where this is going.

So we met up with our friends and walked around for about ½ hour to an hour with them, and they played a few games. We weren’t really interested in playing anything, but at some point I decided to check on the money and, BIG SURPRISE, it was gone.

I was highly upset, felt totally stupid, careless – after we parted ways with our friends, Khaleef had to repeatedly tell me to let it go. There was just no end to me beating myself up.

I pictured all the things I wanted but was refraining to purchase that I could have used the money for. I thought about all the people that could have used $100 that I could have just given it to. I was hoping that someone who needed it was actually the person that found it, instead of one of the rowdy, miscreant, or thoughtless teens (oy, I feel my age!!!!) that filled the carnival.

After a while of calming down and putting things in perspective, I realized that the only difference between losing that money and some of the debt I have accumulated is the regret that I did not get to enjoy it on myself!

The same feelings of carelessness, shame, and anger exist in both situations. The act of going through why I made the silly decision that set a particular ‘loss’ in motion, and questioning myself to why I did not take the obvious, better choice. In the case of the $100, I could have just given it to Khaleef to keep.

I am still embarrassed about losing the money, but that one loss is nothing compared to the many poor decisions that has culminated in our current striving to get out of debt.

I don’t think I want to spend $100 to attend a carnival EVER again, but I am glad for the opportunity to reflect and refocus on our financial goals.

Questions:

Have you experienced a similar situation where a quick decision had embarrassing consequences?

Were you able to learn any valuable lessons that you have kept with you through your experience?

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