I’ve had this quote on file for quite a long time. I read it. Ponder it. Pass it by. Come back to it again. Leave it in my files.
It’s not that I don’t like the quote. I do. It’s probably one of my most favorite quotes now, which makes me think I need to update my list of favorite quotes. But that’s another topic all together, isn’t it?
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
So much truth in one short sentence.
Thoreau’s words make me stop and wonder what price have I paid for things in my life? I know hindsight is always 20-20, but there’s something to be learned from both our mistakes and our right choices. And how I’ve spent my life has cost me something … the choices I make always cost me something.
This blog post is not an opportunity to beat myself up about past mistakes. It’s not even the time to wave victories around like a virtual banner of personal success. No. Thoreau’s words, written centuries ago, are a verbal pause button, causing me to stop and think, “Are the choices I’m making worth the price?”
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it” can be more plainly stated as: Is this how you want to spend your life? If the answer is yes — hurrah! Keep at it. If the answer is no, well then, here’s the chance to make some changes. The New Year is still just that — a New Year.
In Others’ Words: What’s your response to Thoreau’s short sentence? How do you feel about how you’re spending your life?
[ctt template=”8″ link=”4qRga” via=”yes” ]In Others’ Words: Counting the Cost https://ctt.ec/4qRga+ #InOthersWords #quotes #lifechoices @bethvogt[/ctt] [ctt template=”8″ link=”RcG41″ via=”yes” ]”The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” #quotes #Thoreau #CountingtheCost @bethvogt[/ctt]
Comments 9
I am grateful to have my life extended nearly twice what it would have been so far if I had lived in a third-world nation. That gives me a strong sense of God’s purpose and available direction so the best I can hear I gallop forward INVESTING it where I believe He indicates and am PLEASED at the dividends received, far beyond the Dow or the best world market, and thrilled with the wonderful friends and relationships added in along the way to make my life sweeter, richer, far more meaningful and varied than I would have ever dared hope or imagine.
Author
Dee:
Your response encourages me and motivates me to live with such a perspective: seeing life as an investment. My days, my choices, as investments.
It’s kind of a somber quote for me, Beth. Looking back at my life, it was mostly a mistake, and something to be regarded with no little embarrassment.
The potential was there, the intentions were there, but the execution was inept and short-sighted. It was a failure, and I’m neither to proud nor too superstitious to admit that that’s what I am, too. The truth will set you free from self-deception, which is the biggest humiliation of all.
Still have to do my best every day, though.
Author
Andrew:
Forgive the delay in responding, my friend. I was away from home most of the day, and away from my computer, which is not a bad thing from time to time.
I think … no, I know that you are looking back on your life through a perspective that contains very little grace. We tend to be that way with ourselves, and to offer one another more grace than we do offer ourselves. I also know we tend to listen to the more negative voices in our lives — and sometimes our own negative voice inside our head. I pray you can hear God’s voice that speaks grace to you, and redemption. His word says He began something good in you and He will complete it (Philippians 1:6). And I know there are many, many times when you have encouraged others and spoken truth to others that have changed their perspective. (I am one of those “others.”)
Beth, such a beautiful post. This quote is amazing. I am already praying about how I can share it with my boys in a way they might be able to grasp.
I like the way I’m living/spending my life right now. Most of what I don’t like, I can’t change right now, so I’ll work with it and do my best to keep a good attitude.
I’m meditating on your words today!
Author
So glad you were encouraged by this quote today, Jeanne! 🙂
A very thought provoking quote. I’ve often heard someone say, “I wasted two hours of my life on that movie”, or “That book I read was so bad, I wasted my time”. And sometimes we don’t really know until we’ve watched a whole movie or finished a book if we’ll feel that way. But just maybe any experience we have whether it’s good or bad, makes us who we are. But there’s also the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out”. So we as Christians have to be careful what we listen to and what we read.
I appreciate all the Christian authors whose books I read. I rarely read a book I do not like. I’m picky which authors I decide to read. Because I know they spend time praying over the words they choose to pen, and what good message they want us to take away. Thank you all!
Author
Gail,
I appreciate how you applied this to movies and books. It’s true you sometimes don’t know whether a book or a movie is a waste of time until you’re done. You keep hoping there’s something worthwhile, some redeeming value to it all … and then you walk out of the movie theater or close the book and think, “Well, okay then. That wasn’t what I’d hoped for.” I know a lot of people loved Rogue One. (No spoilers here.) I understand why. But it wasn’t my kind of movie. I won’t watch it again. I totally understand the point. I totally understand the love for that movie, but it didn’t work for me. Am I glad I saw it? Well, yes … and no. It didn’t do anything for me … except explain the reason behind the other movies, I guess.
And thank you, too, for you encouraging words about Christian authors. I know how much we do pray over our words — our writing and rewriting. As I start a new project, I’m spending a lot of time asking God where are we going with this book. Yes, I’m developing characters and scenes and storyworld. But, more than anything, I want to know what is God’s heart for this story.
Beth, I know you are one that does pray over what you write and that is so appreciated by me and so many others.
I’m not a Star Wars person either. But there are several movies I watch over and over and I don’t consider a waste of time. I do it just for pure enjoyment! The Sound of Music for one…