Personal Values

WRITTEN BY CHUCK GALLOZZI

Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing
It's relatively easy to work out the prices of THINGS because they can be measured, weighed, or appraised. But life's greatest treasures are intangible and, therefore, immeasurable. I can borrow a cup of sugar, but not a cup of love. I can buy four pounds of beef, but not four pounds of forgiveness. And I can rent an 800 square foot apartment, but not 800 square feet of wisdom. It is easier to sell shoes than to sell life insurance because shoes are tangible; their value is obvious. But the value of goodness, or virtue, may not be immediately or readily clear. So, it's not surprising that, as Oscar Wilde (1856 ~ 1900) quipped, "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." When commenting on the tangible versus the intangible, Albert Einstein (1879 ~ 1955) said, "Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." So, it's time for us to ask ourselves, "What counts? What are the true, meaningful, and lasting values? These questions are intimately woven into our very nature and their significance is explained by John Galt (1779 ~ 1839): "Man has been called a rational being, but rationality is a matter of choice - and the alternative his nature offers him is: rational being or suicidal animal. Man has to be man - by choice; he has to hold his life as a value - by choice; he has to learn to sustain it - by choice; he has to discover the values it requires and practice his virtues - by choice. A code of values accepted by choice is a code of morality." Yes, a job, money, and possessions have value, but their value is in what they add to life. And what they add is spice. They represent the salt and pepper of life. The meat of life consists of the intangibles: friendships, relationships, love, service, creativity, civility, kindness, and spirituality, to name a few. Our values form our character and define us. They shape who we are. They are what make us memorable. Our values are what make us valuable. They give our life meaning, purpose, and direction. They guide our choices and direct our lives. It is because of their importance that we need to pause occasionally, take stock of ourselves, and make sure we haven't lost sight of what is really significant. What values should you be focusing on? One of the beautiful things about life is that we are all unique and can contribute to it differently. So, you will have to decide for yourself what values to embrace and use as the guiding principles of your life. However, just to get the ball rolling, I will suggest a few values that are worthy of consideration, and later you can build your own list. 1. VALUE YOURSELF. Why? Marcus T. Cicero (c. 106 ~ 43 BC) explains, "You will be as much value to others as you have been to yourself." Besides, as Leo F. Buscaglia wrote, "Value yourself. The only people who appreciate a doormat are people with dirty shoes." Get to know and cherish yourself. Become familiar with your own strengths and weaknesses. Use your strengths to help others and your weaknesses to improve yourself. And keep in mind the words of Albert Einstein, ""Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value." 2. VALUE COMPASSION. True, William Hazlitt (1778 ~ 1830) did write, "The least pain in our little finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions of our fellow-beings." But prove him wrong by showing you wish to lessen the suffering of others. We can all do our share and in our own way. Although it's admirable to send donations to help those in need thousands of miles away, begin by having

compassion for yourself and your immediate family, then your coworkers and friends, and, finally, the strangers you meet. 3. VALUE PASSION. Enthusiasm and passion energize our lives. But not unbridled passion, not reckless enthusiasm, for as Sam Keen writes, "The value of passion, like fire, is judged finally by the amount of warmth and light it creates. Fanatics, like forest fires, burn bright but destroy all in their path that is tender and green. To be useful, fire must be confined. To live passionately, we must develop discipline; to love powerfully, we must forge bonds of commitment. Passion is inseparable from compassion." 4. VALUE KNOWLEDGE. Although almost everyone is familiar with the expression "Knowledge is power," a surprisingly large number of people misunderstand the meaning of knowledge. They think anything written in a book is knowledge. However, if I were to write a book on how a UFO landed in my backyard and its passengers abducted me and later returned me to my own bed, such a book would be a collection of words, not a collection of facts. Knowledge is a collection of facts, not words. If we truly value knowledge, we will approach every subject with honest skepticism. We learn with a questioning mind and become indoctrinated with an unquestioning one. That's why Buddha (568 ~ 488 BC) taught, "Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense." Finally, knowledge is power, but only when we use it, so don't just read, but apply what you learn. 5. VALUE KINDNESS. Everyone can make a major contribution to the world by embracing the values of kindness and tenderness. Your kindness warms the hearts of others, relieves their burdens, and makes them feel valuable. To live a life of kindness we need to remember two things. First, one kind act is worth more than a dozen good intentions. Second, be kinder to your enemies than they are to their friends. 6. VALUE TIME. When we value time, we put it to good use. When we waste it, we trivialize it. Charles Darwin (1809 ~ 1882) aptly stated, "A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life." 7. VALUE MENTORING. Whether you wish to or not, you are influencing others. You may be influencing them for the better or for the worse. You may be uplifting them or tearing them down. If we value mentoring or coaching, we become a source of encouragement and inspiration and help to make the world a better place. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770 ~ 1831) taught, "Life has a value only when it has something valuable as its object." So, when we center our lives on values, we become valuable. The value of life, then, is not determined by its length, but how we put it to use. Wealth is not riches; possessions are not abundance, and self is not everything, but values bring meaning, purpose, and direction to life. A modest, simple life filled with meaning is worth far more than an elaborate, splendiferous one that is meaningless. So, let's reconsider our values and cultivate those that are badly needed, for the world is counting on us. Chuck For more articles and Visit http://www.personal-development.com/chuck Gallozzi information,

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The Value of Man

Author: Jeremy Johnson Im known in some circles for being careless with my words. If I get fired up about something, I often speak without taking the time to ask myself if theres a better way to get my point across. I think that experience is helping me to mellow out properly, but Im sure Ill always struggle with it to some degree. If youre a relatively young guy, theres a good chance you know how I feel.

Here are some statements Id like you, my fellow foot-eater, to carefully consider. You may have said these things yourself. If not, youve almost certainly heard them. The real tragedy of this story is that these people are allowed to breed. Looks like a well-earned Darwin* award! The gene pool needs some chlorine. These statements are usually followed by a hearty chuckle, a nod of agreement, or a +1. Lets face it there are many ways in which people do not have equal value. Here are a few examples: 1) Employees do not provide equal value to employers. If they did, there would be no need to spend so much time and energy on the interview processes. 2) Citizens do not provide equal value to their governments. Some pay vast amounts of taxes while others take more out of the system than they put in. 3) Even when we look at our own hearts, if were honest with ourselves, we may find that we do not equally value everyone we know.

Ultimately, there is only one way in which all people are truly valued: we are all precious creations of the Lord God. He made this world for us and He gave each of us immortal souls. The founding fathers of the United States of America understood this concept when they declared independence from a nation that violated the equal rights of its people. They recognized, as I indicated above, that governments have no reason to value people equally without an appeal to the Creator. They were determined to rectify this problem. In the Declaration, they said, We hold these truths to be selfevident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. They stated that people are entitled to separate and equal station by the Laws of Nature and of Natures God. Despite this solid foundation, our nation has used sterilization programs to violate all three of the peoples unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. There are people alive today that have unwillingly been sterilized by order of a court of law in the Unites States. In other words, the government has forcibly removed their ability to have children by irreparably damaging their reproductive organs. If you think this sounds familiar, you may recall that Nazi Germany had similar programs. There was a large amount of propaganda in Germany to encourage the elimination of undesirables (those with mental, physical, or racial handicaps) from society via sterilization. However, you may not be aware of the sad fact that the United States is not even following Hitlers lead on this; he followed ours. The image above shows that the infection of eugenics (engineering societys genetic traits by controlling reproduction) was already widespread in the Unites States by 1935. The Germans borrowed much of their propaganda from Americans. Despite the fact that the term, eugenics, became quite unpopular after the war, forced sterilization continued in the U.S. for decades. Even now, we frequently justify the prevention of birth (abortion) by citing reasons why the babies are undesirables apparently a more socially acceptable form of limiting reproduction. Historically, when these measures were not fixing society fast enough, some nations resorted to outright genocide. Germany was not an isolated incident; it happened all over the world throughout the 20th century. Past evidence provides a grim outlook for our own nations future in this regard more grim than todays already horrendous situation. If this is making you mad enough to throw your monitor out the window, remember that the greatest atrocities of the 20th century did not occur simply because some people woke up one day and decided to be evil. They did not occur simply because madmen gained too much power. These things were allowed to happen because the people of the offending nations slowly came to accept the idea that genetic hygiene might cure some of societys ailments. My friends, it is not the gene pool that needs cleansing; it is our hearts through the cross. Let us not carelessly add fuel to a fire that has

been such a plague upon the human race. May we all take a lesson from the founding fathers of our country. On second thought, scratch that. Even the founders were imperfect in their respect for the value of their fellow human beings. Instead, let us simply value others for the sake of their Creator, who said, Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me. (Matthew 25:40) Think of the story of Lazarus and the rich man, told by the Creator Himself before he paid the ultimate price for the failings of all human beings. (Luke 16:19-31) Lazarus was a waste. Unproductive. Undesirable. He was gross dog food. However, the Lord sees what we do not. Christ valued this lowly creature so much that He took him to be with Him in paradise. If we should ever have the urge to complain about how undesirable a fellow man is, we would do well to remember that our Creator made that man. * It should be noted that Darwin doesnt own natural selection any more than Hitler owns eugenics. Jeremy is a professional geek. He works in a department of actuaries (people who do nothing but math all day) as a software programmer. If his fellow actuarial programmers need technical support they often come to him for help. Jeremy has a B.Sc. (Hons) in Computer Science. Jeremy lives in Wisconsin with his loving wife and three young children. He enjoys video games, guns, and LEGO. He is also an amateur historian and logician. Computers are absolutely unforgiving when they are fed bad logic. If machines dont hesitate to call Jeremy out on his faulty reasoning, neither should you. He enjoys a well-reasoned and honest debate.

http://theradicaljourney.com/2012/03/12/abortion-eugenics-and-the-darwin-awards/

The value of a man should be seen in what he gives and not in what he is able to receive.
Albert Einstein

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