Do you remember the first time you bought something that cost a lot, with your own money, a car, a computer, a surf board?
How did you look after that thing? It needed to be treated just right, and not lent out to friends who might not appreciate it, it needed to be kept clean and safe.
It had a special place you kept it didn’t it?
Looking back now, we see things a bit differently perhaps. The amount of money we spend now may be lots more, and so values change. We still probably have ‘special’ possessions though, a piece of artwork, some jewellery, a coin collection, a different car? Something that is kept away from spills and sticky fingers. something that is kept in a really ‘safe’ place.
We protect what we value.
A few years ago we went on a holiday to Malaysia and bought our son back some skate shoes. It’s always a risk buying for teenagers when they are not with you, but apparently we did ok. They fit and they were cool. Winning….. The shoes weren’t expensive by Australian standards, probably $35 or so. However it’s a different equation if I thought about not what I paid, but what it would cost to replace them. I couldn’t buy them in Australia, so perhaps the real cost was an airfare, plus travel, plus purchase price. Obviously this wasn’t ever going to be a practical solution if they were lost or damaged but it did make me consider the concept of value.
Is the value of things in our life, what it cost to acquire them, or is the value what it would cost to replace them, if that is even possible? See replacing a car or computer or jewellery may be costly, but it has a monetary value and it can be done.
Replacing your health, a family member, your peace of mind, a child’s trust, that is a very different story. I began to consider how much I valued somethings in my life that had not directly cost me any finance.
Some things are not able to be given a monetary value, but if lost, they could never be replaced.
Perhaps we have been guarding, treasuring, valuing the wrong things.
Your marriage, a relationship with children and parents, integrity, your good standing in the community or in a place of employment, a position of trust, health, friendships.
What financial compensation could be enough for a life of loneliness, or a life of ill health?
None that I can think of.
Many of us have observed others that have spent their life guarding their wealth, and leaving the fate of their true valuables to chance, to the whim of circumstance.
If you value something, it’s worth the fight. If you value peace of mind, it’s worth the fight. If you value freedom from fear, freedom from regret, it’s worth the fight.
It’s not what will cost you a fortune to replace that you need to protect with your life, but it’s what you can’t replace, no matter how big that fortune is.
Think about it today. What do you really value, what do you need to protect, keep safe, keep in that special place?
Maybe a good use of your time would be to spend some attention on those things you can’t replace.
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