Being Valued for What You Do, Not What You Have

Being born into wealth is not an accomplishment or achievement; it's a privilege. And while creating your own wealth and success is an accomplishment, still, your value and worth are not determined by what you have but rather by what you do with what you have. So many of us use wealth and status as markers for our value in society. But is having money or power really enough if we do absolutely nothing with it to benefit others in some way.

I had an acquaintance once that from our very first meeting introduced herself proudly as coming from an affluent family; and she wore that circumstance of fate like a badge of honor; like it was somehow her personal accomplishment in life that she believed made her better than everyone else. But I was not mad because I knew that her declaration was actually coming from a very vulnerable place.

Ultimately, any time we use what we have in order to try to impress others (whether or not it is something we accomplished ourselves), we are doing so from a place of insecurity. Sometimes we actually do believe we are better than others, but this is just an illusion of the ego. In truth, we simply want to feel valuable and useful but deep inside our hearts we think we have nothing else going for us so we use our material status to make us feel worthy of other people's affections and respect. But, in reality, any affection or admiration we receive solely for this reason is not real, it's not authentic, and it is certainly not the type we actually want.

Richer or poorer we all have a responsibility as human beings to do our part in the world. But that doesn't necessarily have anything to do with money. Giving compassion, love, and choosing non-judgment are all ways in which we can share positive energy with each other. No matter our background, upbringing, life circumstances, or socioeconomic status, we are all people at the core of it all. We all have the same basic needs and desires, things like wanting to be loved, appreciated, respected, and cared for. And so it is when we give each other the very experiences we want to receive that we align with the essence of all those wonderful things we value for ourselves as well.