Paying the sanity tax

A few years ago my coworker was dragging into the office.

He said that last night it was around ninety degrees in his bedroom, and since doesn’t have any air conditioning in his apartment, he barely slept.

My question to him was, then why don’t you just go buy a window unit?

To which he responded, but that costs money.

Yes, that’s the point. It’s called a sanity tax. And it’s always worth paying.

Instead of complaining to us how bad you’re suffering, take a trip down to the appliance store, pay the hundred dollars, and wipe this problem out of your life.

My coworker then boasted, yeah, but I’ve lived without an air condition for the past two years.

My response was, congratulations, now go pay the damn money.

Listen, there are certain areas of life where a significant increase in quality will make it worthwhile to open your wallet just a little bit wider. Where the minor cost to you is disproportionate to the massive value you get in return.

That’s the sanity tax. Prolific people learn to pay it.

You will skip an avalanche of aggravation and stress that would come from scrambling to clean up the mess created by stubbornly paying as little as possible for everything and anything.

Pay more to get what you need rather, than settling for less out of guilt, pride, consistency or frugality. Spend money to save time, reduce stress and increase joy, not the other way around.

That’s the sanity tax.

Set aside a measly three percent of your annual income, and you will increase your overall happiness by a factor of ten.

For which product or service are you price insensitive?