Another example, each day when I wake up I have a finite amount of energy I can expend doing activities.

There are activities in the day that are likely to meet my goals and aspirations. There are many more activities that will take me further away from those goals.

If I spend the entire day doing activities in the latter group I would consider that a waste of energy.  

 Let's find another phrase than "waste of energy" for "things we prefer don't happen" if we want to make a point without the shroud of absurdity around it