When we go to the grocery or buy a new car, we don’t get to choose price of the items we buy. They have already been valued by merchant or the dealership. However, we do get to choose our own value. How much are you worth?
How long did it take you to come up with your value? The answer should have been quick and easy. The correct answer is that you are priceless! Your value is beyond measure. If that wasn’t the answer you came up with, then why not?
It is common in our culture to value ourselves on our productivity. When we meet someone new, we often ask them what they “do”. What value do they produce in the world? We define ourselves and those we meet by the standard of our occupation or life choices. This is problematic for so many reasons. In this scenario, work at home mothers are pitted against work outside the home mothers. Women who choose not to have children are measured against women who have children, etc. Instead of choosing our value based on what we do (or don’t do), we need accept and live into our pricelessness.
In one of her TedX Talks, Mel Robbins says that our chances of being born exactly who we are is about one in 400 trillion. That in itself makes us pretty unique and priceless; however, it doesn’t make us very unique in the ways we think about ourselves. One reason women undervalue themselves is because to accept their value is sometimes seen as arrogant, but what happens when we don’t value something we possess?
When my son gets something he has been wanting, at first, he treasures it. He spends time with it and takes care of it. He loves playing with it. But after the new wears off, he begins to forget about it. He leaves it outside instead of bringing it in and putting it up in his room. Soon, it is forgotten and the toy that was so valuable before no longer has no value.
Valuing yourself for being uniquely you doesn’t look like arrogance. It looks like a child with a new prized possession. You spend time with you, and you enjoy that time! You take care of yourself by getting enough rest and choosing how you spend your time and with whom you spend it. You say kind things to yourself because you understand you’re imperfectly human. You have an empathy for others because you understand they are also priceless in their value.
We choose our value every day. We either begin the day being thankful for the value we bring to the world, or we choose to not think about it. When we choose not to think about it, we devalue ourselves just like a child’s toy being left outside in the elements. Choose your value, journal about it daily. Truly loving yourself will never produce arrogance, so take the time to do the work. It is never a waste of time to invest in someone of such great value. Until next time, much love!

留言