A while back, a devotee who is a cab driver was driving me back after a lunch offering and was having a counselling-on-wheels session with me.
He was rather troubled by some past injustice and just can’t help but want to do something about it. He wants justice.
At some point, I realised that he was bent on spending a lot of his time and resources (more money) to fight and get some justice. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am all for justice. Where possible, there should be justice. But sometimes, for some twisted reasons unbeknownst to this world, justice may be very remote or may come at a price greater than the cause itself. Then I wonder if it is worthwhile pursuing this justice.
Is there still justice when the price we have to pay to get it outweighs the gain we may ever get? Does this fall under the sunk-cost fallacy?
So I decided to ask him how much he earns on average a day and found out that he bring in around S$100 a day on average. Nothing to shout about but decent living, considering the hours he has to put in and the potential occupational health hazard he faces driving long shifts.
Next I ask him how he spends this $100 each day. Does he spend it on himself and his family? Of course he does. And how much does he intend to spend on bringing justice? $50? $30? $70?
How many $100 does he have to spend on getting justice? And we are talking about legal fees that easily go into the thousands.
If we can simplify our days into $100 (or $24 if you catch the drift), how much of our $100 do we want to spend on ourselves and on love ones? On what we like or what we dislike? On those who loves and pleases us or on those who harmed us and caused us much suffering?
Be kind to ourselves. Spend the “$100″s of your life wisely.
How did you spend yours today?
How do you intend to spend tomorrow’s share?
Perhaps I should clarify since at least one or two person somehow get affixed with the $100 and miss the message.