I was watching CNBC the other morning (don't tune me out yet!) and one of the commentators said something very telling, and in some ways, a bit scary. This is a paraphrase of what he said:
"Very few things have a value, they just have a price that people are willing to pay for it."
So it struck me that there is little value in what we deem valuable. Houses have fluctuated in their worth depending on the market for them. We've seen oil come down over 2 dollars a gallon in the last few months. Food prices seem to be going up a bit. While my wife and I were Christmas shopping on Thanksgiving weekend (Saturday...not Black Friday) many of the stores we went into were holding sales of 70% off. Why? My thought, at least, is because the psychology of the market is pegging us as much less willing to spend. This is in stark contrast, supposedly, as to not long ago when people were blowing money on anything and everything and therefore getting themselves into debt buying things they didn't need. So the price on the 'stuff' comes down, because we're not willing to pay for it...or as much anyway.
So if those types of things hold a price, there are certainly those things that are valuable, even though they can't be measured in dollars and cents....relationships, marriages, children, etc. Those things the good ol' MasterCard commercials would call priceless. These are things you can't assign worth to because they are beyond any sense of compensation. Their value is immeasurable.
So if we look at the things that hold a price tag, would it be fair to say purchasing these things ought to hold little worth in our life? I'm talking more about the above and beyond things more than the gallon of milk. When we think about what we purchase for ourselves, it adds little value to our life. In some instances it may take away from the value of our lives. What we buy may steal valuable time from honest and intimate relationships.
There are things in this life that do hold value...invest in those things...give yourself to them. You will find that they are greater than you. You will not be able to possess them because they are not something to be owned but treasured. After you're done reading this, look upon your spouse, child, friend, or neighbor that way...as someone with immeasurable value whose worth can never be determine and whose well being is worth giving yourself for.
Peace.
