What is value when we look at our life?  Do we ever stop and think about what our own personal value is to this earth?  Is value an extension of our skillset, education, trade or ability to create wealth?  Or, is value something bigger than that?  A lot of questions in an opening paragraph to ponder on, isn't it?

Value. 

We see value and create value in everyday life.  Price tags on consumable goods, contracts for services, fines for traffic violations and retirement portfolios.  Each instance of life carries a perceived value.  What we often forget is that we too, as human beings, carry value just by being who we are.  The perfectly imperfect souls we are, are valuable.  No matter what decisions we make, good things we do for our fellow persons, errors we make in the process of living and light (or darkness) we bring to this world; we are valuable.  We carry inherent value by existing.  Saying "thank you", forgiving someone who cuts into the exit ramp line off a freeway, doing a random act of kindness for someone we don't know and simply allowing the good feeling within us to resonate.  

The news media fawns over negative and pushes it at us in this 24/7 news cycle.  Why?  What value does this create?  I can't really seem to answer my own question there.  Maybe there is something of value for some folks, but again, I simply fail to understand.  Watching coverage of shootings, civil unrest, celebrity gossip and royal weddings just fails to bring value to me.  Maybe for some people it does, but in the end, why?

I am sure that like me, some of you all look at yourself in the mirror and ask, "What am I worth?  What value do I bring with me as my footsteps leave their energetic imprint on this earth?"  The answer should be that WE ARE ENOUGH as we are.  We are enough not only for ourselves, but for those close to us who truly value our presence.  The souls who appreciate us for who WE ARE at the ROOT of our being.  The souls who appreciate our quirks, weirdness, awkwardness and sometimes, outright dorkiness.  The ones who are always there and support.  Those are the ones who bring value.  

As I sit here listening to the soothing sounds of Tibetan Singing Bowls ignoring the chaos of budget development and the busiest part of my year around me, I stare out the window and allow my mind to ponder what my own value is.  We hear often about "values" a person possesses.  People are often quick to point out they are hardworking, determined and detailed oriented.  Do those truly add to the value of a person?  Maybe in the work setting, but I think it relating work "values" to what we are as souls, dilutes our TRUE value. 

Kindness, empathy, caring nature, open-mindedness, anti-judgmental, courteous and live and let live/love and let love truly are things which add to the value of a person.  Obviously, we can't live on kindness alone, but we can make (or at least help) others see their own value by extending kindness along the way.  Each of us has value.  We always have and we always will.  We may struggle to see it some days, but it is there.  

We are radiant beings full of value.  We can look at ourselves as grand threads in the magnificent tapestry of life.  If our thread was removed from the tapestry, it would become duller.  When we consider value in that sense, we can rest easy knowing that we are, indeed, full of light, love, beauty and value.  The days where we feel anxiety, depression, sadness and grief are normal parts of the cycle and circle of life, but they do not overshadow the value we bring and what we are as individuals.  They do not define us or the value we bring to this earthly realm. 

Look yourself in the mirror each morning and smile.  We all have value.  We all have a great deal of value.  Our value exists simply by being ourselves.  Nothing more, nothing less.  Our value isn't dictated by how much we make, by the size of our home or the type of car we drive.  It's about what light we bring to the world and how we share that light with others.  We are valuable because of who we are.  And that, friends, is more than enough.

Om Mani Padme Hum.  I send blessings to you all.  May Lung-ta, the Wind Horse, carry them, swiftly, to you and to all sentient beings throughout this earth.  

"Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but pictures, kill nothing but time."

Namaste, friends.