Tip: The “price you pay” isn’t always a penalty.
As a young boy growing up I often heard that I would have to “pay the price” in order to succeed in anything I was doing. At football practice, I was told I would have to pay the price to get into shape and work hard to make the team. In the classroom I was told I would have to pay the price of studying hard in order to make good grades. As an adult in business, I have been told that I would have to pay the price to be successful and financially prosperous. Every time I have heard the words, “pay the price” it has sounded hard and harsh, almost like I was going to be penalized or have to take a beating.
I have come to see that the price you pay is not always a harsh penalty. Sometimes it is simply the price tag that goes with the experience you want to achieve.
Every life experience has a learning curve. In learning self-discipline you have to do things that have not been done in the past. I believe that when we look at those experiences as having to “pay the price,” it puts everything in a negative mind-set. I think it would be much better to reframe a situation in a more positive light that says, “There will soon be great benefits I can enjoy from what I am now going through! There will be a great value to this experience after I have gone through the learning process and I will have achieved new steps on the road to success.”
I know this is true in relationships with other people. It seems that we pay a price when we risk being hurt by interacting with other people. Sometimes we stumble in that process, but I know from my own experience, that every lesson I have ever learned in building relationships has turned out to be more of a benefit to me in the long run, than simply a price I had to pay in order to go through that experience.
This is a similar concept to paying tuition in order to go through school. All schools of higher learning charge tuition. It is simply the price you pay in order to get an education. But, recognizing the long-lasting personal and financial benefits of that experience is much better than feeling frustrated because you had to “pay the price” to get it.
I do not know how much it costs these days for a physician to go through medical school; however, I think most of us would agree that whatever the price that was paid is far outweighed by the benefit that is achieved. The same would be true for school teachers, bankers, lawyers, business owners, and sales people.
It may seem like a difficult or negative experience to pay the price to get up early and work hard every day. But, when you believe that you have made a difference in people’s lives, achieved a measure of success, and experienced personal growth in the process, that benefit is far better than the price you may have had to pay for it!
This week, let me encourage you to adjust your thinking and put on fresh glasses in order to see things from this new perspective. You may be facing situations that feel difficult and hard. You may even feel like you are in the process of taking a beating! You may feel that you are being made to “pay the price.” Why not choose instead to simply look at the personal benefit and reward you will have for what you are going through? That benefit will stay with you for the rest of your life and will make you a better person, a higher achiever and more valuable to yourself and others as well. When you look at things that way, you are truly seeing life from the best perspective possible and you become the winner for it!
Tip: The “price you pay” isn’t always a penalty.
Have a great week! God bless you!
Dr. Robert A. Rohm
