The prize is worth the price!

If you feel blessed but not good, maybe you are wanting something but you don’t know if it will be worth the time and effort and cost to get it. That’s what I discuss in this episode. The prize is always worth the price and I tell you why I believe that is true.

In my office, I have a piece of artwork (commissioned by Janey Scott- you can find her on IG @made.by.jane.scott) that says “The prize is worth the price.” Today I want to talk about this quote and where we go wrong with it.

I could not tell you when or why, but I was reading an old conference talk by then Elder Nelson called Repentance and Conversion. This was from April 2007 General Conference.

Repentance

The talk was about repentance, and it says, “What does it mean to repent? We begin with a dictionary’s definition that to repent is “to turn from sin … to feel sorrow [and] regret.” To repent from sin is not easy. But the prize is worth the price.”

When I read that line, the prize is worth the price, I thought of one of my favorite scripture verses:

• Mosiah 4:27 And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

And it got me pondering: is every prize worth every price?

The conclusion I currently hold is: yes. Every prize is worth every price.

I am open to reconsidering this position, but let me tell you why I hold it as is.

What is the VALUE of a prize?

First, what determines the value of a prize?

Is this an objective thing, or subjective. Is it subject to interpretation or opinion?

For me value is always subjective, meaning each of us individually decides what is “worth it” to them. And here’s the first area where we go “wrong:” We often overlook much of the “prize.”

Example

For my birthday this year, I took the family out to sushi. We showed up at our favorite and trusted sushi place, and they were closed!

So we did a quick search and found another sushi place not too far. We ordered, we ate, we paid. And of course the bill was pretty high, it’s sushi.

But my personal experience was that it was not worth it. I accidentally got glutened and the sushi just wasn’t as good as our favorite place. And we took the whole family, so the cost seemed to compound in my mind.

I could say We spend $100 on sushi and it wasn’t that good so it wasn’t worth it. But what if I say, I spent $100 on sushi, I got to spend time with my family and make a new memory, and I learned that I don’t like that particular sushi place… then is it worth it?

I would have to say yes.

I received a meal, I didn’t die or get extremely sick, I enjoyed my time and I learned something. That’s worth $100!

I like to say you are either succeeding or learning. Both are valuable. Your learnings show you the way to succeed if you don’t give up. So in this way, the prize is always worth the price. But you have to sometimes look a little deeper at what you actually get.

We don’t define what we want

The second place where we get it “wrong” is that we don’t identify or define what we really want, or the prize.

There are myriad reasons why this happens.

We tend to rush thought pretty much everything, we are borrowing someone else’s desire, we bypass our own emotions (it can be tedious to do the defining of what we really want), we are just wanting the shortcut, etc, etc.

I recently listed all the things I have followed through on (that I could think of) and every single one had very clear objectives to finishing— huh!

When I say I want to read my scriptures every day, I know this means I either read one verse of scripture or I read a conference talk. It is very defined in my mind. So I normally do it every single day. Am I perfect? No. But for the most part, this is clear to me, so it’s easy to follow through.

But when I say, I want to be strong— something I’ve been saying for a couple years now— I don’t actually know what I’m talking about! I know it means physical strength, but does it mean gaining muscle mass?

Does it mean being able to lift the crock pot onto the top of the fridge?

Does it mean holding a plank for 3 minutes?

What is my criteria?

I don’t know.

This is why I don’t lift weights! My prize is not clear to my own darn self!

Cost vs Benefits

Both of these things we’ve talked about require us to get really clear on the prize, either before the fact or afterward.

What about the price?

This is a third area I believe we go “wrong.” We compare costs instead of benefits.

If the benefit, or prize, of two different comparable things are the same, then it’s useful to go to the cost analysis. But most people stay stuck because they focus on cost without bringing benefits into the equation.

Our brains naturally overlook the benefit or upside to two options because those aren’t “dangerous” to us.

Our brains go to the cost to survive.

Example

Let’s say you are planning a vacation and trying to decide between two different accommodations. What is important to you is to:

1. have enough beds

2. be close to the beach

3. have a kitchen so you can make breakfast (or offer breakfast included in the cost).

So let’s say you are considering both a hotel and an Airbnb that both fit these criteria.

The hotel includes breakfast but is farther from the beach. The airbnb is really close to the beach and has a kitchen, but is more expensive.

It’s easy to get stuck in the loop of “one is cheaper but the other is closer. I want neither of these so I just won’t make a decision.”

This is a really simple example, but it’s what we do. We focus on the cost without regard to the benefit. And then we force ourselves to choose between two things that we don’t want!

It’s really easier to make a decision when we say, “What do I value you more? Being closer to the beach or spending less on this accommodation?”

The saga of our wood floor

Ten years ago we remodeled our kitchen. We always try to save as much money as possible, and my husband can do much of the handyman stuff, so we pretty much did it all ourselves.

We have a large formal living room and dining room that were both carpeted. Ten years ago, we decided to take the carpet out of the dining room, but not the living room because that would add a large cost to the project.

So we updated the wood flooring on the main floor of our house and updated all the cabinets, countertop and appliances in the kitchen.

Immediately we disliked the flooring we chose.

It was inexpensive and a new bamboo product, which we learned does not do well in dry Colorado climate. Even though we took the flooring up and re-laid it, it still formed gaps between several of the floorboards from shrinkage.

So for the last ten years I have really disliked our flooring. But we also didn’t want to replace all the flooring because— it’s a big job!

It takes a lot of time and effort! And the flooring was good enough.

Also in that time, we got a puppy and the carpeting started to show its age. We thought once the puppy was done being house-trained we would replace the carpeting. But the never happened because, again, life and not wanting to expend the energy, money or time.

Last year I decided it was time to redo the flooring in the entire main floor of our house.

The cost of continuing with the awful bamboo outweighed the time, money, and effort it would take to replace it. We picked out and ordered an engineered hardwood and carpeting.

This time we were going to take out the carpeting in the formal living room to match the dining and entry areas of the house. It took a lot of back and forth and decision making between my husband and me to choose a new flooring.

But then the flooring got backordered and we would lose our summertime help (our son who is learning from his dad how to do handyman things).

So we cancelled the order.

Then about 6 weeks ago our dishwasher leaked. It really became time to redo the flooring. We HAD to pull up all the old flooring in order to get the plywood subfloor dry again and ready for new flooring.

For a month we’ve been walking on plywood floor.

My husband, the primary contractor for this job, has a full time job that keeps him very busy, so we had to wait for a gap in his schedule, which happened over the 4th of July holiday.

We spent 3-4 days installing new flooring. The formal living room, formal dining room, kitchen and dining nooks are done. We still have the hall to our garage door and the bathroom to do. AND we have to re-do baseboards.

Also, my husband decided to run the saws inside so now practically the entire house needs to be deep cleaned to get all the sawdust out.

But you know what? It’s so totally going to be worth it. Because I already love the new flooring. I love wood instead of carpet in the formal living room.

I love that my son gets to see this process and learn marketable skills for his future.

I love that we had difficulties that we figured out.

I love that it’s fresh. There’s so much to love.

The effort and time and decision making and money will be so worth it because I decide it is. It’s worth it to create a home that I love and enjoy when I look at it. The blood, sweat, and tears make the final product worth it.

The prize is worth the price.

The prize is proportional to the price we pay. If we aren’t willing to pay the price because of the value we decide or perceive, then we don’t get the prize.

If the prize is unclear, then we won’t be willing to pay the price. If we don’t see the whole prize, then we won’t pay the price. If we focus too much on the price and not at all on the prize, we wont’ pay it.

The prize always includes us learning and developing.

The prize is worth the price, especially if we are talking about eternal life as Elder Nelson was talking about.

If you feel blessed, but not good, maybe you don’t believe the prize will be worth the price.

I would love to continue the conversation with you! What makes it difficult for you to feel good? Please let me know by emailing podcast@denitabremer.com or come find me on Instagram or Facebook at Denita Bremer. Or you can attend an Ask Denita Anything session. The first one is on Monday, July 15th at 10 am MDT. The link is in the show description.

Come to a free Ask Denita Anything session! The first one is on Monday, July 15th at 10 am MDT (check your timezone). Join by clicking this link at 10 am on Monday.

If this episode helped you at all, please consider leaving a rating or a review. Thanks!

That’s enough for now, and so are you!

Cello music is written, recorded and produced by Jacqueline Walker.

This podcast is recorded by me, Denita Bremer, and produced by Jasmine Reynolds.