03/04: What Are You Worth?
It sounds like such an easy question: What are you worth? Take a pen to paper, use a calculator, and when you are done you have a number, a tangible figure which can be used to define your worth. That number is what you are worth, correct? Nothing more? Nothing less? Not so fast.
There are those who have money, add nothing to society except the ability to spend and pose and are presumed to be worth a great deal. We have all seen the spoiled rich punk who had his path carved by daddy’s checkbook. Society seems to value him highly. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those with nothing trying to find something that would change lives forever.
I remember reading about a man whose life had been about extending and enhancing the mental and physical well-being of the species by “curing” the aging process, something he regarded as a disease. His work was fascinating and has pushed scientists and researchers to consider and reconsider alternative avenues of investigation. He has changed the world in ways we will never know in our lifetime. It should be noted that he has nothing, literally nothing of material wealth, material worth. What is he worth, nothing?
There are men with all of the creature comforts and material wealth one could desire who wish they could feel significant, of value. There are men who possess little more than what is necessary to survive who reach for the heavens, wishing the strength to cloth those who depend upon them were a bit easier, that their effort was valued. What is each worth?
Watch a man who has everything give it all away so he can feel significance, worthy. Watch a good man starve because he is too proud to ask for help, because he must maintain a perceived self-worth, as that is all he has in life. They both come from different places, but are in the same place. Who is worth more?
When it come down to it, it is not our bank account that determines our worth, nor our possessions, but what we see when we stare into the mirror. No matter what the calculator says, it is that reflection that haunts us. “What am I worth?” Some can glance away from the mirror and look at the balance in their checking account or their big house or their fancy car, but the question is pervasive, always there, waiting. There are those who can tackle the challenge of problems, yet see others with so much more, so ask the same question, feeling worthless. It makes no difference what you are worth, because you’ll never be worth enough.
You can be worth everything and nothing, as it makes no difference, since that self-doubt that propels us to figure out how to make what we see in the mirror worth more will always exist. Whatever you are worth, it is not enough. Whatever you are worth, in someway, somehow, you should be worth more. The angst of the moment: you are worthless.
Is there any wonder we are lost? When you realize no matter what you have you are worthless, can you be anything but lost?
There are those who have money, add nothing to society except the ability to spend and pose and are presumed to be worth a great deal. We have all seen the spoiled rich punk who had his path carved by daddy’s checkbook. Society seems to value him highly. At the other end of the spectrum, there are those with nothing trying to find something that would change lives forever.
I remember reading about a man whose life had been about extending and enhancing the mental and physical well-being of the species by “curing” the aging process, something he regarded as a disease. His work was fascinating and has pushed scientists and researchers to consider and reconsider alternative avenues of investigation. He has changed the world in ways we will never know in our lifetime. It should be noted that he has nothing, literally nothing of material wealth, material worth. What is he worth, nothing?
There are men with all of the creature comforts and material wealth one could desire who wish they could feel significant, of value. There are men who possess little more than what is necessary to survive who reach for the heavens, wishing the strength to cloth those who depend upon them were a bit easier, that their effort was valued. What is each worth?
Watch a man who has everything give it all away so he can feel significance, worthy. Watch a good man starve because he is too proud to ask for help, because he must maintain a perceived self-worth, as that is all he has in life. They both come from different places, but are in the same place. Who is worth more?
When it come down to it, it is not our bank account that determines our worth, nor our possessions, but what we see when we stare into the mirror. No matter what the calculator says, it is that reflection that haunts us. “What am I worth?” Some can glance away from the mirror and look at the balance in their checking account or their big house or their fancy car, but the question is pervasive, always there, waiting. There are those who can tackle the challenge of problems, yet see others with so much more, so ask the same question, feeling worthless. It makes no difference what you are worth, because you’ll never be worth enough.
You can be worth everything and nothing, as it makes no difference, since that self-doubt that propels us to figure out how to make what we see in the mirror worth more will always exist. Whatever you are worth, it is not enough. Whatever you are worth, in someway, somehow, you should be worth more. The angst of the moment: you are worthless.
Is there any wonder we are lost? When you realize no matter what you have you are worthless, can you be anything but lost?
Alena wrote: