Legoland Germany, 28 degrees Celsius, the sun is burning. On the display for “The Great Lego Race”, an entertaining and fun ride that reminds me of the “Wild Mouse”, shows a less pleasant waiting time on the display: 58 minutes.

As an annual pass holder, I think twice about doing this to myself. We can come back “every day” and therefore do not have to wait so long on a Saturday. The question is always the same: is it worth for us to wait almost an hour to end up having 1.5 minutes of fun? On the opposite side of the entrance a little boy cries who wanted to win a giant stuffed animal dog at the basketball game…which didn’t quite work out. With a look at the overwhelmed parents, I smile to myself and think; 1.5 minutes of fun and then 18 years of stress. 🙂

Everything in life has its price. The question we can ask ourselves every day is: “What is of greater value to me at this moment?” Let’s stay in Legoland for a moment. 1.5 minutes of fun cost me 58 minutes of my precious lifetime. There is never a right or wrong. There is only; what do I want right now? Some people also invest in a Fast Lane Pass at the amusement parks. With this you bypass all queues and can walk directly to the ride. Your investment per person is between 20 and 80 Euros – in other words, sometimes more than the ticket itself. What´s worth more to you? To experience all the rides and wait less, or do you prefer to wait and spend more time in lines than having fun? I mean – it’s about your lifetime. But Norman (you might be thinking now), 80 Euros is 80 Euros. Yes, and what’s the point of 80 Euros if you’ve waited half your life in line while others have one ride and another one … and another one? I know these people are stupid. And wasteful. And anything else. You know what; they think exactly the same thing about you. The beauty of this is; both are right.

It’s the same with every seminar, workshop or community participation. These things bring you a shortcut to your ultimate goal. Does it cost you anything to access this knowledge? Yes of course. Only if you use the input for yourself and follow the coach’s statements will you quickly recoup the investment. Only a lot of people don’t see that. They only see the acute costs. It’s an investment – in your future. Whatever decision you make in each situation, remember that it will always cost you something. And if it’s not money, then it’s the even more valuable lifetime. Most people only notice this value when it is too late.

Back to Legoland. In the end we decided to go for “The Great Lego Race”. Why? My big one said with a trained eye and in all ease: “Dad, it’s 58 minutes from the entrance. But there are very few people in there. It’s fast.” What was that supposed to tell me? More often trust people who have ridden there umpteen times and know how long the walking distances are. We were in our racing car in about 12 minutes and out again 2 min later. And the boy was still screaming at the basketball stand. 🙂