A reminder on opportunity cost

Sometimes we surprise ourselves with the sort of things that come out of our mouths - pleasant and unpleasant. Like the moments where we try to be funny but it comes out all wrong. Or the ones where people treat us as some experts and ask for our advice on matters we really aren't qualified to speak about.

Last night we had our 2nd mama shop meeting since camp is actually approaching really fast. It was a long day for me, since for 8 weeks now we have been meeting at 9.30am for dance trainings. And while the numbers keep dwindling, I've kept my cool most of the time and try oh-so-very-hard-cognitively to adjust for the Fundamental Attribution Error whenever someone goes MIA.

So when it came to somewhere around 9pm last night where I used the 'opportunity cost' idea to illustrate to my fellow mama shop comrades about how we should price our products, I was amazed that what had been a latent concept since my first NUS semester, suddenly proved useful.

To the uninformed, opportunity cost may be the better way to measure one's utility or happiness in consuming a certain product; in our resource scarce life. Say going for driving lessons to acquire a license costs $1000, I would weigh it against the utility I would derive from going for 200 Take '5' classes instead; assuming that time as a resource is not of an issue here. Or what is the opportunity cost of 2 hours of dance training on a weekend morning? 3 more hours of sleep when one considers the traveling time and the extra time needed to roll out of bed only in the mornings. But since we are on this cost-benefit analysis, what are the benefits?

Muscle aches are guaranteed if one does not slack off during the conditioning. You get to learn a few eights of choreography which probably will come in useful when you have to create dance pieces from your own dance vocabulary. Deeper friendships are forged if you bother hanging outside your "clique" or maybe coming just slighter earlier in the morning (which also helps make sure you're not going to miss out on even the most basic warm ups). Oh and if you are one of those (rare) individuals who see the value of having a disciplined lifestyle, which includes discipline in handling your finances since we contribute $10 per month for the booking of our training venue, then I hope the benefits sound appealing.

Because dance is one of those things that does not improve instantaneously overnight. I wish I could be better faster, but such growth can't be microwaved. I recently read somewhere a beautiful illustration (I'm quite sure it's in Mitch Albom's new book but I can't find the quotation), what happens when one takes a knife and brings it down against a fruit and a piece of the wood. Good stuff happens when you allow slow growth.

And with the new batch of volunteers about to audition in just 4 days, I'm praying for good people. People who would count the cost then say 'yes'. People who realize that behind all that glamor on-stage are hours spent waiting for others to pick up the choreography, walk out that formation and many more private rehearsals. To me, it only makes sense when the thing that motivates you is compelling and lasting enough.

The opportunity cost of writing this entry? Dinner that has gone cold. The results of the cost-benefit analysis? A reminder that a lesson learned, a lesson applied, a lesson continually lived out in my life first is better than that dinner (or that chapter that I could probably have started on).

The men in the family refused to get into the picture because they couldn't be bothered to put on a shirt. Anyway I just wanted to post this up because I'm quite amused with how I look when I'm stoning.



I'm obviously very bored from studying. Why am I so unmotivated this semester?

Thanks!

Thanks for all the well-wishes and encouragements AND prayers for my paper today. Today was really awesome. I had an open-book paper and basically the teacher gave 6 questions, of which 3 will be the actual questions. And the three I hoped to come out really did. Yay!

I can tell you I was at home in the toilet and praying around noon time, cos it was an evening paper, that if the exact 3 questions I hope to come out does come out... I know it is definitely God's grace and blessing. So yes I am a very happy kid today. Though I'm pretty sure my 'detailed' essay outlines have penalized me some marks, but who cares! haha!

And after my paper, went out for dinner with my mum. It was a last minute decision cause supposed to just come home already. We went to NYDC at Bugis and duper full. I need to burn off these extra calories after my exams with more dancing. hahah! Interesting thing that happened at dinner was that we got a sundae on the house because I was thick-skinned enough to ask if there was any birthday discount. LOL. Yes cheapskate Singaporean. Ate the mudpie and ice cream until mum and I shivering.

Okay obviously I am not very concerned about proper grammatical sentences today. Because writing essays in school kills a lot of brain cells so I should blog like whatever comes to mind. LOL. So yea, thanks people. I really feel very loved by all the encouragements. =)

My pride and my joy

Thank you team. You know you rock! I love you.