Sunk Cost

There's a concept in economics and accounting called "sunk cost". Basically it means that it's money you've already spent and unrecoverable, but it should not affect your future decisions on the project. Here are some definitions I found on the interwebs: About.com - "Sunk costs are unrecoverable past expenditures. These should not normally be taken into account when determining whether to continue a project or abandon it, because they cannot be recovered either way. It is a common instinct to count them, however." Bridgefield Group "A cost already incurred that is not able to be affected by subsequent actions and thus has no relevance in evaluating future decisions." Here is an extensive article regarding the topic in wikipedia. I woke up today feeling bad because I have not been following through on my spiritual goals this year, which was to spend regular time reading the Bible and praying. I had signed up for a "read the Bible in a year" plan, and I'm SO far behind it would probably take 12 hours of reading the Bible to catch up to today's assignment. It paralyzed me. But today I kept hearing this "sunk cost" in my heart and I had to get on the computer and look up some definitions. Having studied accounting/finance in school and working in the field, I already was aware of the concept, but how did it apply in this situation? Then it dawned on me that it was God's gentle way of saying to me in a way that I can understand, "Child, the first 20 days of this year are over. You cannot go back and recover them. But it should not stop you from doing it TODAY." So yes! Regardless of the missed Bible reading and prayers this year so far, I can do it TODAY, and just read the passages assigned TODAY. The previous days are sunk cost. It should not affect my future decisions on whether to continue with my spiritual development. I need to write the past off. And I know there will be days like this again, when I need to start over and write off the missed days. And that's okay. I'm going to try and not let my past failures in this area affect my future. So if you're doing Project 365, or have any other NY resolutions that you feel you're failing on, don't give up. The past is sunk cost. You can start TODAY again, right where you're at. No need to catch up. No need to feel guilty. And no need to let the past failures paralyze your future actions. I feel really encouraged, I hope you do too. :) Photo for today: A couple of restored historical US Marine planes at the Flying Leatherneck Aviation Museum in Miramar. It was right across the street from San Diego Kitchen and Bath, where we went to visit at lunch to get some kitchen remodeling consultation.