A Fool

Why would a person regret selling something, especially if the person who bought it was willing to pay too much for it?

Let me paint a picture for you and we'll see what you think of it all once I am done.

You are walking down the road one day when you notice something shiny in the ditch.  Upon further inspection, you discover that it is an old coin and you pick it up.  What a cool thing to discover on a nice little walk!  Once you get home, you put that coin in a cup that sits on your desk - you use that cup to just hold a few odds and ends that you don't know what to do with and it sits there for a while.

One day, a person visits you and conversation brings up a fact that they collect coins.  A memory is jolted and you bring your find out for your guest.  After a quick look, the person offers you $2000 for the coin.

How would you react?

I suspect you would react the same way I would.  I'd probably accept the $2000 and hand over the coin.  Perhaps, if I didn't really know this person, I might be a bit suspicious that it was worth more than that.  Well - it only cost me a few moments of climbing into and out of a ditch.  Given my personality, I would probably take the $1900 AND an explanation of why it was worth that much.  

But, this scenario is like the mulberries on our farm.  We did not plant them.  We don't give them any special care.  We harvest if we feel like it.  They aren't exactly a favorite of mine to eat.  And, frankly, I don't think about them much.  In short, I don't place great value on them, so if someone else sees them and wants to harvest - that's fine.

Now, let me modify the story a bit.

Let's say you worked very hard to save money and purchase that coin for your collection.  It took significant effort on your part.  And, when the coin arrived, you studied it and realized it was a special variety and you shared it with your visitor because you are so pleased with it.  Upon seeing it, they offer you $1,000 instead of the $100 you scrimped and saved to pay for it initially.

What do you do now?

You take the $1000?  Did I make it clear the coin and the story that surrounds it are a REALLY BIG deal to you?  There is some real meaning in this item - it's not just an object to you.  This is kind of like the difference between finding a wild mulberry and eating a couple of berries versus buying a seed packet, planting a seed, growing a seedling, transplanting a seedling, watering, weeding, trellising and fertilizing a plant and then having someone take the harvest away from you.

And, let's make it a bigger deal.  You aren't going to be able to take the money and find another replacement that fills the place that the current thing does in your life.  Once you sell, it is gone.

Now, do you take the money?

While I doubt that most of us have had to deal with something quite so dramatic, I suspect you can think of a time when someone who had more resources than you offered to pay (and maybe overpay) for something you had.  And, if you balked at the sale, perhaps you were made to feel that you were a "fool" for rejecting an offer that clearly would result in you making a "profit."

First of all, it is clear that the person making the offer has more resources.  $1000 for them is probably equivalent to other's $10.  Second, it is clear that they see real value in the item they desire - hence the offer.  And third - they aren't considering other ways of determining value - such as your story that surrounds the thing they desire.

So, I ask you.  What kind of fool are you?  

A fool that releases something that means a great deal to you because the money is good?

Or a fool that refuses to let something go that means a great deal to you, even though the money is good?

Either way, one things is clear.  We are all a fool in somebody's eyes.  I can live with being a fool in your eyes, but I sure will do my best to not be one in my own eyes.