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I saw a camera lens online that I wanted.

It was used. There were no bids.

I put in a bid at just over $425.

There were 2 hours left in the auction. An hour goes by. No bids. I'm excited. It's an amazing lens.

Suddenly.

$430.

Oh so you wanna go?!?!?!?

Me: $440

Him: $455.

Oh you think you are a baller, huh?!?!?!?

Then this escalates into a full blown bidding war. I am ignoring phone calls as I pound on keyboard.

We get to $725. He puts a bid at $730.

I then have an epiphany.

Dude. Do you really want to bid more than that for a used lens? You can buy it new for $790.

I bowed out.

There are many situations in life where we don't even realize that we are trying to “win".

The problem is that we are trying to win the wrong game.

In life, we often find that the price of winning is losing.

Sean Kernan on Quora