Value Comes In the Doing

One of the problems with winning the lottery or inheriting a zillion dollars or any number of other good fortune kinds of things is the fact that we’ve not done anything to earn them. And the value of something almost always comes in the earning of it. When we’ve truly earned something, there is a valuable part of it that can never be taken from us.

I know this is a different perspective than most of us have in life. We think we’d LIKE to be given everything. But it is in the effort, the discipline, the commitment that value resides.  What is given to us is not valued (even though it may, indeed, be valuable).

The human spirit is built such that it needs to work and to achieve and to earn in order to perceive true value. What we really desire is to matter, to make a difference, to add our own special flavor to life as we know it. Fulfillment comes as we create and bring something to life, be it skyscrapers or bank accounts or homes.

We need to look past the trinkets and artifacts of achievement. We need to focus on the effort, the passion, the commitment, and the perseverance that makes us rich in so many ways in our lives.