Last week I wrote about assessing our market value after stumbling on a tale about Picasso being asked to draw something on a napkin, and then charging a very high sum for it. If you missed it, click here.
This week, I want to turn
the converstation more toward how we express ourselves as valuable (or not) in relationships, or at work.
Down to our fingerprints, not a single one of us is exactly like someone else. There may be a million people
who have your same talents, and gifts, but they will manifest them differently. Each person will receive a nudge to do it this way, or to experiment and try it that way. The more we do it, the better we get and the greater our value in that area becomes. This pertains to how we do what we do at work, as well as personal “trades.”
We live in a give and take world. We give internal gifts like love and we steward external offerings like time and resources. If we’re a boss, we have the power to give approval for time off, or not. Friends need favors and we have conversations to work those "deals" out.
Family members often need help and we consider what we can do for them, or maybe we are the ones asking for support. How we view our net worth translates to how well others "trade" with us and thus, how we fare in all aspects of our lives.
If you need more help transferring these concepts from last week let’s look at your relationships and ask a few questions. Are you as loved, as you are loving? Are you helped by others as much as you help? If not, be curious about why things are lopsided.
I’m not suggesting that we enter relationships expecting to give and take equally. You may give a lot of help, resources or time to person A, and in return, you are blessed exponentially by persons B, C, and D. We don't keep score in individual
relationships. But we do notice when things are balanced in a way that feels good and we do engage in life ready to swap gifts where everyone comes out ahead.
For peaceful living, and to minimize unnecessary conflict,
it's important to “make deals” at an exchange rate that will keep us above resentment, yet somewhere below the point of taking advantage of others, leading to a disproportionate swap. No one is really winning in that situation. We don’t want to be on the short side of the interaction either. Believe it or not, that says more about ourselves than the other person.
Wherever you are on life's perpetual trading scale professionally and personally, is a great clue to how well you value yourself and your worth.
When we know our inherent value and believe that we are all wonderfully and equally made with unique gifts and talents, when we spend time getting to know ourselves and developing the passions that light our fire, life can more easily flow in harmony, within and without.
Your assessment of your worth impacts every person you meet and everything you do. May you sit with the knowing of your true worth and how it has accumulated over time. Ask yourself how appreciating your worth more accurately might change the way you approach your life, work and relationships this week.
