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Now I’m going to ask you to fantasize a little. Imagine that you find yourself on an unfamiliar street, in an unfamiliar city. The store window is lit up with a bright lamplight. The sign, on the other hand, is unremarkable and quite old, and it reads, “Welcome to the Wish Shop.” You open the door curiously and walk to the nearest shelves of merchandise.

What was your surprise when on the shelves instead of the usual products you saw such as: “Strong and pumped arms”, “Perfect abs”, “Foreign language”, “Twine”, “Lose 44 lb”, “Millionaire”, “Popular actor”, “Rock star”, “Dream car”, “New profession”, “Change of residence” and many other funny wishes.

When you got closer to take a closer look, you saw an unusual price tag. In addition to the cost in money, there was a cost in time (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Underneath the price tags was a sign explaining: “The price is approximate, because everyone has their own individual needs and abilities. And the final calculation is made individually”.

Then you noticed that in the very corner of the store there was a counter with some strange goods, they were packed in a box and each of them was marked “Dangerous for life”. Later you examined the sign above this rack, it said that these were desires based on revenge, anger and jealousy. And the price of some of them could cost you your life.

– Ew! That’s horrible! – you said out loud, unbeknownst to yourself.

And then a saleswoman comes up to you.

She even looks like a pretty and young girl, but with a very cold and businesslike look. Before saying hello, she examined you from head to toe and then through her teeth squeezed out a word:

– Hello!

– Hello, – you answered.

– Anything you’ve chosen? Or perhaps you’re looking for something special? – She asked with a smirk.

– I just… came in to look around. It’s the first time I’ve seen a store like this…

– What?! First time? Don’t kid yourself, everyone wants something, but they don’t realize the true cost of their desires. If you don’t have money to pay, you should have just said so, don’t waste my time! – snorting unhappily, the saleswoman went to the back room.

– What boorish behavior! I really came here for the first time, but I promise it was the first and last time! – Shouting at the saleswoman in her wake, you hurried away.

As you left the store, you found yourself in a narrow street full of people, all of whom were in a hurry to get somewhere and trying to outrun each other. When you heard the thunder, you decided to go to the nearest cafe, where it was warm and cozy.

Sitting at a small table by the window and drinking a hot cappuccino, you watched the rain falling, the drops dripping down the glass and, gathering into streams, flowing into puddles, into which passers-by carelessly stepped. And then the thought struck you, how good it is to be in the warmth, drink hot coffee and just watch all this fuss from the side. Where are they all running to? Why? Eh. Well, to be honest, it doesn’t matter anymore…

And now it’s time to get back to reality.

The first thing we need to pay attention to is that the salesman was right. When she said that everyone wants something, but not everyone realizes the true cost of their desire.

And that’s really true. We are all human beings, and we all have needs. Of course, we do not go to the store of desires, but we constantly go to ordinary stores, and when we buy goods, we pay for them with money. Which, in turn, we earn at work. And it is precisely at work that we spend our time.

That is, theoretically, we can tie the price of goods per unit of time we spend to earn the right amount of money.

But what about our ability to pay? How do we estimate it?

To do this, we need to make a small calculation, after which you and I will make our own individual payment card, which we can use to pay with when buying goods in the store of desires.

It can be made in three different tariffs: “Optimist”, “Realist”, “Pessimist”. Everyone can choose their own rate depending on their beliefs. But first you need to fill out a questionnaire.