Your Worth Lies not in what you do, or who you know, but in who you are” Aine Belton
Self worth – This brings a very important question to the forefront. What do you think is your worth? – The value you assign for yourself. I have seen a lot of people use money as a metric and say that someone is worth X Million or so. But all we have studied, all the books of moral teach us that money is not equivalent to your worth. It is something more precious than that!
In that case, is our worth based on our achievements, the value we have added to other people’s lives? I am sure the philanthropists in us would agree to this school of though – your worth or richness is based on the amount you give to people, depends on how you enrich the lives of others around you and so forth.
Your Worth Lies Not In What You Do – Aine Belton
I guess neither of these are wrong, but somehow I don’t feel that either of them is comprehensive. The safest answer for this question is – “It Depends” – on what your values are, the environment you are brought up in, the way you think, your community, family and so on and so forth. Gee! There is never a simple answer, is there? There always seems to be some or the other complexity involved with any definition. But I think Aine Belton here puts the most important perspective. The elements we discussed about are fragments, just a part of who we are – right from the physical aspect to the emotions we harbour, the values we align ourselves with, the way we respond to the circumstances around us – all of these stitch together the fabric of who we really are as people.
For me, it is a set of values and actions based on those values which can define my self worth. For someone else, the description can be entirely different and opposite to what I believe in. But that doesn’t undermine either of our self worth’s. The reason being – we are not going to be judged on anyone’s standards. There is not point in judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree! We all do the things that are important to us, we all work on aspects which are a priority to us and master ourselves in that. And these priorities end up defining us – all the actions we do, the thoughts we possess, the things that energise us and make us think – those are the things which we hold close to ourselves and those are the things which define your worth.
So, forget focusing on the society’s standards of what your worth is and what you ought to do. You and I have just one life to live and it is just too precious to try and please everyone. The society will point fingers at us and even make fun of us. Worse, it will question your worth based on its standards. But then, we are stronger than that, aren’t we? It is just those times when we ought to remember that our worth is based on our values and our dreams. The more we focus inwards, the external aspects find a way to align themselves.
Well, these were our thoughts on ‘your worth’ – obviously your thoughts matter a lot more to us than the argument we play here. Please do share your ideas with us to make the post richer and more real.
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Beautiful post Vinay. Self worth truly is a very important thing one has to introspect on and understand that , it’s far above the work that we do or the job we are in or the money we make. Probably if the work that I do is enriching enough that it changes me as a person, then the person I become is what matters.
Thank you :). I really love the last line you have coined – the act of becoming. It reminds me of a beautiful quote from Anthony Robbins which says- who you are and what you do weighs a lot less in comparison with what you are becoming. I think it is a wonderful attitude to have to look at where we are going in life and the ability to identify how everything else we do aligns with it is an amazing skill to have.
Great post
Thank you Rupam :)
Again read a beautiful thought here, loved the line—‘you and i have….please everyone”, i always believed it and try it also.
Thank you Jyotirmoy :). I think it is never an easy task to do that. Most times we do have to be a part of the society and act accordingly. But I guess at least for the big decisions, it may be worthwhile to stand our ground and consciously do these things so that we can make the most of the situation for ourselves. Quite a task indeed and kudos for consciously taking that call, it is something to be very proud of indeed :)
We need a nudge, a reminder at times…to realize our worth. Great quote and nicely elucidated… :-)
We need a nudge, a reminder at times…to realize our worth. Great quote and nicely elucidated… :-)
A nudge, a reminder of our values and self worth – nicely penned Maniparna. Very true, a constant understanding of our own self can really go a long way in shaping our priorities and the decisions as well. I guess that is what these books call ‘mindful living’. It will be pretty awesome to develop that..
Worth does lie in self-realization! Very beautifully explained Vinay :)
Thank you Maitreni. I think it is a beautiful think to realise who we are and what we stand for. It makes life so much simpler and easier to follow. Sometimes, I think it is the lack of knowledge about ourselves which pushes us to do things to fit in, even though we are uncomfortable doing something. Maybe creating that boundary and having a zone of tolerance for that boundary can be a great start to start stretching out..
Gr8 Post !! I have a Feedback, I am reading this post on my mobile but the Social Media icons here on the L.H.S does bother while reading.
Hi Pooja, thank you for the feedback, I shall move the social media icons away to improve the readability. I had mostly used it on my computer and wasn’t aware of the irritations it would cause for a mobile phone usage. I will sort this out right away :).
Thank you for the straight feedback, helps improve what we do here :)..
Cheers,
Vinay
Hi Pooja, I have moved the social media sharing button to the bottom as suggested. Hope this improves the readability. Please Do write to us if there is any discomfort :) .
Vinay, I am so glad that you have chosen to highlight that a sense of self-worth depends on measures emerging from a personal value system. One has to decide that for one self. We all have this tendency to judge others by our measures. It’s important to remember that what is important to them may not be important to us. And, when viewed from the lens of personal evolution, neither is wrong because there are life lessons to be had on all paths.
Thank you for the kind words Lata. Very true, we all have that tendency to judge by other’s measures. It almost becomes impossible sometimes to separate ourselves from that. That very distinction you mentioned about what is important to others and what is important to us can make a huge difference in our approach. It really helps to keep our focus on the things that matter to us and aim at a better result than letting the mind wander away into doing something which doesn’t really make a huge difference to us.