Setting the benchmark

Photo by Mgcini Nyoni

I once saw someone getting very shocked indeed at the suggestion that he buy a phone for US$80.

‘Yikuswelin’ingqondo, ngithenge ifoni ye80 dollars? Ngcono ngiye thenga idonki yami ekhaya’. (Buying a phone for $80 is madness, I would rather go and buy a donkey at my rural home).

There is a certain bliss in such simplicity. I already had a hundred dollar phone then and I wondered if that guy was happier than I. Surely I had the stress of wanting a better phone than the hundred dollar one I was carrying. Should we aspire for such simplicity? I am one guy who used to think that buying bottled spring water was total madness when the taps are gushing with clean water. But I have come to realize that I was just broke then: Now that I can sometimes shock some people by paying for lunch what they would rather spend on two weeks’ worth of groceries for the home, I am no longer so sure about the whole issue of expenditure.

Where do you draw the line between careless extravagance and reasonably spoiling yourself? I believe once in a while I should get a glimpse of the world I cannot afford to keep myself focused on my goals. To constantly remind myself of the life I would want to live, not the life I live now. But where do you draw the line? It doesn’t make much sense to stay in a five star hotel and then rush to the neighbour to borrow a cup of sugar a few days later. Five star hotels are sometimes booked for me when I travel and that is a good life. But should I book a room in a five star hotel out of my own pocket each time I am away from home; to get a glimpse of what I cannot afford but should work towards?  In other words to set benchmarks for myself.

I don’t have a thousand dollar phone, but would buy it if I had the money. If I had the money; so that’s what my aspirations are aimed at, right? I don’t have a house of my own and I would want one eMatshamhlophe not in Makokoba. So I should constantly take a glimpse at that right? Even though my finances tell me that what I can realistically afford is a two roomed house in a high density suburb, I should aspire for more. Food for thought.