I have always been pretty decisive. Usually it works in my favor. I trust my instincts, and when I have to make a decision, I can usually pretty quickly make up my mind. This week, this decisiveness led to a pretty crummy mistake.

When I bought my digital camera, I wasn’t sure how into photography I would get. But it turns out I love it. I’ve had a lot of fun with my camera, and I love that we have photographic memoirs or our lives now.

We recently made the decision to add a camcorder to our tools. We really want to be able to shoot videos when we’re in Europe, and we definitely will want one when we have a baby. I’ve been looking at pocket HD camcorders in the $200 range (like this one that I really like and have been considering purchasing).

This morning, I started looking at the newer model of my camera, which shoots HD video. I realized that if I could sell my camera body without the lenses for $400, I would be able to upgrade to the newer model with HD video capabilities and higher quality still shots for only about $200. I was so excited, that I acted impulsively (which is pretty out of character for me).

I listed my camera in the Amazon marketplace, and I was surprised that it sold within minutes. But by the time I got to the post office on my lunch hour to ship it out, I was starting to have doubts. Was I really ready to drop $200 on another camera? How would I take pictures of Christmas in the meantime? Was this the right decision?

It turns out, my hesitation was an indication that I should slow down. After I’d already shipped it, I received an email from my buyer. He realized that the description said I was selling the camera body only without the lens. He didn’t want to buy it anymore. But it was too late.

He’ll be able to send it back, but I’m out the $20 I paid to ship it to him and I probably won’t have my camera back by Christmas. And now I’m having second thoughts about whether I want to sell it and upgrade yet at all. This is something that could have waited until the spring since I don’t even need the HD camcorder until May.

And now my beloved camera is somewhere between here and Minnesota instead of being safe in my camera bag.

Sigh.

I learned a valuable lesson about slowing down. When I get an idea, I tend to get tunnel vision. Sometimes I act too quickly. I need to learn to take a step back, think through the situation, and make sure I have all my bases covered. Luckily this time it only cost me $20 (hopefully). But I really hate when I lose money because of a stupid decision, don’t you?