Laugh now, cry later. Get a project car.
Written on April 22nd , 2023 by Joshua Domingo
If it’s worth getting emotional over it now, it’s probably worth it.
There is no doubt that I have a lot of regrets about getting this project car. The amount of time, money, and effort I’ve lost because of this car getting me stranded, the heartbreak of things not working properly, and the stupid amounts of money I’ve spent on non-working solutions. There are opportunity costs with getting a project car. But with that said, this car is irreplaceable and I don’t mind the shit it put me through.
Why bad decisions aren’t so bad
Little did they know this was the first test drive after fixing it, bwahaha
Like everyone, we just want to justify our stupidity.
We are designed to make decisions so just pick something and move on. Decisions in the moment resonate with what we really want, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. However, being emotionally charged with making ALL of our decisions, we’ll definitely end up downbad in debt and despair. So how do we walk the fine line of making smart and foolish decisions? For me, the best way to figure out how to make a decision was to sleep on it. If it lasts for longer than a few days, weeks, months, I probably want it.
I stuff as much as I can in my Amazon cart and just let it sit in there. I sleep on it and sometimes forget that I put it in there. After some time, if I’m still thinking about it and don’t mind going through with it, that’s when I decide to buy. Delaying my purchase or decision galvanizes my intent or sputters down to nothing because it separates the emotional charge from the logical purchase.
Do I have bills to pay? Do I have food to eat? Do I really need something new, or will it be better spent repairing and maintaining what I already have?
I have a lot of ideas for the future and what I want to achieve and acquire, and for many of us and I don’t think that money is the biggest object to cross, it’s our decision. We don’t want to make bad decisions, the money just multiplies that factor.
Decision-making is a top-tier skill
We can maneuver around our debts and credits with mindful saving and spending. Most people who have jobs can turn around their debts and bad decisions in due time. But I don’t believe that we should sink into the mindset that if you’re already in debt, we should say “fuck it, I’m dying anyways!”. There are things to look forward to and it’s never too late to say never.
I regret the times I missed out on because I was too cheap and skipped out on an activity. There was a girl I really liked that wanted to go sky-diving back in college. But being a frugal boy at the time, I didn’t want to spend the extra money or put it on credit (it was like $100). So I didn’t go. But the amount of times that story has replayed in my head about NOT doing something has irked me more than I thought. In hindsight, the money didn’t matter. You can make it up by working more and paying it off slowly. The girl didn’t really matter. You can always enjoy your time with other people. But my indecision to do something I really wanted to do at the time is what bites me all the time.
When I decided to take on a project car, to me, it was my choice to commit. I took pride in making the decision to learn about cars and fix it myself. I committed to a lifelong pursuit of repair, DIY, aches, and achievements with this car. Through the ups and downs, there were days where I wanted to sell it because I couldn’t fix it. Other times, you couldn’t stop me from talking about it with everyone.
Taking on this project and sharing my experience with everyone around me was really boosted my quality of life. I didn’t think that it could. But of my own volition, I made it happen for myself. It was because it was what I wanted and it wasn’t for the sake of others.
I hate this car. I love this car. And owning up to my decisions is one of the most empowering things I’ve done in the last few years.
Do something for yourself.
It was my birthday this month and each year I do a review of what I’ve done over the last year. And my only goal in doing that review is to firmly agree that I did things for myself.
The world would love your altruism and generosity for the public good, but if you ain’t doing shit for yourself, reevaluate your worth. Your time is limited, and your commitment and energy should be reserved for things you can honestly answer that this is what you want to do. As much as I love volunteering and helping out a good cause, frankly, it’s hard to justify helping others when I still need to tend to myself. I’m not the richest person that can afford acts of charity in place of the time I need to do my laundry, clean the car, or care for my family.
Your time is a luxury and you should treat it so.
With that said, I don’t regret the endless time sunk of a car on my shitty Volkswagen Mk1. It’s not fast or supremely impressive by the highest standards of resto-mod cars, but it’s mine and I cherish the time and memories I’ve spent with it thus far. It’sa MY shitty Volkswagen.
