What do you value?

What we value says a lot about us. Now this isn't a soapbox rant about material goods or what is good or bad to want but rather a funny lesson I learned about playing a "game"

So there I was, standing in the Auction House in Ironforge, looking through the wares for sale. My purpose was two fold: 1) I am someone who has been called lazy (I prefer to say that I have situational motivation) and so I was trying to find some things that I could 'corner the market on' and buy cheap and resell to make some gold. 2) I am always on the lookout for item upgrades since I switched over to resto. I still have a pretty good kitty DPS set, but am always looking for more +healing items.

So that being said, I come across some items that would be a definite upgrade for me, but by the same token the mace cost 24g, but was head and shoulders above what I was using. I seriously sat there staring at the screen for 5 or more minutes, debating, thinking "Can I really afford it?" Then it hit me... I AM PLAYING AN EFFING GAME. It isn't like if I buy this mace I am going to be short on my mortgage this month. I wasted 5 mins. of life debating whether I could use fake gold to buy an imaginary weapon to better my perceived status in a fantasy world. Really? Can I afford this? Heck ya I can... because worst case scenario, I have to suck it up and go farming to get more leather and ore, to then sell to some other shlub who will debate whether or not he can pay the 10g for "just a 20 stack of rugged leather." I can see him (or her) vividly in my mind debating whether they should continue to stock pile their (fake) gold because "you never know what may come along" or if the 1-2 lvls that they might get in leather working is worth the 10g...

Long story short I am under 100g for the first time in a long time, but overall I am feeling a lot better about my ability to heal. Talent is important, and I am hopefully building that each time I play, but having better gear plays an integral part to making yourself better. Just ask the kid whose mom "bought" her son's way onto the soccer team in the 7th grade... yep he was that bad and it still bothers me... I finally settled on about 5 new items from bracers to rings that added to my +healing. I am now at about 490 +healing with 5300 base mana unbuffed. I could have been higher on my +healing, but I went for a happy medium between the healing and loss of base mana and base hit points. I also stocked up on things to begin questing again, you know little things like scrolls and elixirs and potions and food and what not. And how hard is it to explain to a non-gaming wife how you can spend an hour or two “playing” but not really accomplish anything in the game, but having a blast practicing economic principles. (See it is more like homework for econ then playing)

I won't soon forget the lessoned learned about what we hold dear... cause if WoW gold is anywhere near the top of someone's "What I Hold Dear" list, I think it might be time for them to reevaluate their lives/priorities.