The value of worth

My father and I had an interesting conversation the other day. We were discussing the value of worth and how this is relative. My dad had mentioned that back in the 1980's there was a market crash in Alberta and there were too many houses up for sale and not enough buyers, at one point money became valueless. He had stated, "a diamond has value, only because a bunch of people say it has value."

Dictionary.com defines the word value as: relative worth, merit or importance.

The word worth is defined as: good, or important enough to justify.

I recently read an article in the reader's digest of a story called, "The Wealthy Barber Returns." One of the subtitles was called, The Power of Perspective" and there was an interesting quote, "There is no more potent antidote for the disease of envy than a dose of perspective."

We are very fortunate in Canada with our big cars, big houses and money. We can have pretty much anything we desire at our immediate disposal. I was in a very affluent neighborhood with my colleague, a couple of months ago and I was commenting at how HUGE the homes were and Michael stated, "Jeannine, it is just a house. Made of wood and nails." As a society we have to be careful about how much we value, maybe for that family a large house is worthwhile, but when you start to envy that person, that house, that car, your thinking shifts gears and you start to see something, that had no value before, as precious.

The late Harold Coffin noted: "Envy is the art of counting the other fellow's blessings instead of your own." We have to value the important things, and most of the time they don't cost money. Family, friendship, love, happiness.

When we look at our prospects and our clients, how do we value them? Are they worthwhile? Or are they worthless? If they are worthwhile, how do we demonstrate that? If they are worthless, is that showing through? What do you value?

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