Bill Gates is worth $76 billion. Steve Jobs was worth $2.1 billion. President Obama's base salary is $400,000 a year, which makes him worth over $7 million. Christy Walton, the "heiress" of Wal-Mart is worth $35.4 billion. These people are ranked in things like Forbes Magazine and are looked up to in society. Why? Because they're the people with the money. Money is the one thing that rules our society, but I believe that there are so many more aspects to how much a person is worth.
There are hundreds of thousands of missionaries that go global to help people in need. There are organizations like Habitat for Humanity, the Peace Corp, or AmeriCorp that are solely based on changing people's lives and making the world a better place. I personally know of people, some of my amazing friends, who have such big hearts. They are willing to go to foreign countries to serve people instead of themselves. My friend Morgan has dedicated her summers over the last few years to go to Haiti and serve God and His people. My friend Liz goes to Mexico to do the same thing. They give up comfort to go to places that need help and provide people with service and their love, which I think is absolutely amazing. To me, that says a lot more than how much money a person has.
The idea of self-worth is something I think about a lot. I often connect it with my image. If I do things a certain way then maybe people will value me more. I think in my faith I get caught up in trying to be pleasing rather than trying to actually have a relationship with God. I've come to the conclusion that my life is worth something (duh), just as is everyone else's. The question is, what can I do to make a difference? Since I know that I'm worth something, how can I help other people realize the same thing?
I'm a selfish person. I mean, everyone is selfish at times, but I really am selfish. I write about these terrible problems in my blogs of things that happen in third world countries. I give my view on how they can be fixed. But I'm not really doing anything to help the situations. It's because I constantly think about myself. My views of my own image overrule my willingness to help people. I realized that today in a situation where I wasn't willing to put someone's happiness in front of my own. My quest this summer is to get over myself. I will be more compassionate and less selfish. I have three big opportunities to do that within the next couple of months. Between camp, CIY, and a mission trip I will be surrounded by plenty of people that I can practice on.
Self- worth is not about how much money you have or how many cool things you own. It's about your willingness to put other peoples' needs in front of your own. It's about showing people that they are worth something, which in turn affects how much you are worth to a person. It's like a never-ending cycle of awesomeness.
Allison, you rock!
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