The Value Of Life

Let’s assume that you’re in perfect health (no physical imitations, no terminal illnesses, and have the prospect of living another very full 50 years. If someone offered to pay you for those 50 years, would you take the money?

It sounds crazy, and yet many of us are doing this without the knowledge that we’re doing it. Pause for a moment and think about how you make decisions. What criteria do you use?

More of us have shifted to an economic evaluation of most things. We decide how much something is worth based on the monetary consequences. For example, many of us decide which job to take based on the salary or $ per hour we’ll be paid. Some of us even choose careers based on how much money we can earn in a given field. We may even decide how to use our free time based on financial ROI (where to volunteer, what social activities to engage in, etc).

The fact is that most of us make life decisions based on how the outcome will benefit us economically.  Yes, it may be a valid criteria for making a decision but it’s not the only one and certainly not the most important one. But what else is there?

Money is easy to quantify, but that doesn’t make it more valuable. For example, what’s the cost of a sunrise? Seeing your child smile for the first time? The sound of a loved one’s laughter? The peace you get from knowing you did the right thing? Learning you’re stronger than you thought you were? Cuddling up with a pet? Experiencing a work of art? The thrill of accomplishment? There's a lot of value in building relationships, developing character, finding understanding, and connecting with the world around us (just to name a few things). These things are more difficult to quantify, but that doesn't make them less important.

Life is too valuable to be quantified with money. Your legacy is not how much you were worth financially in this life, but what you did with your friends and relationships, your time, and yourself.

“Those who know the exact price of things, as Judas did, often don’t know the true cost or value of anything.” ~ Kathleen Norris

The Measure of All Things

Economists will say that something is worth as much as another person is willing to pay for it. They’re economists, so of course they’re talking about money. But why do we always look at money to determine the bottom line on decisions? Why don’t we consider other costs or gains? I think money is the measure of all things because money is easy to count. It comes with numbers pasted right on the face of it. There are different denominations, and we can make change with it. You can’t do that as easily with things like your health, well-being, relationships, quality of life, or soul. But what if you could? What if whenever you made a purchase or decision a cosmic cashier could ring you up and before you walk out the door with that freshly made choice the clerk would say:

“That will cost you half your liver. You’ll be placed on an installment plan with a balloon payment due upon your untimely death.”

or

“That will cost you two marriages and the relationship with your oldest child. Taxes will be added and annually compounded in order to add emotional injury to your loved ones.”

or

“That will cost you 1/5th of your soul. Would you like me to supersize your material gain for only 10% more of your soul?”

The truth is that we pay these prices, but we’re so busy looking at the things we can easily measure that we don’t notice. Sometimes when a person tells me that their budget can’t afford a vacation or a work of art I respond with, “My soul can’t afford for me not to have it.” Because the truth is that we can always afford what’s most important to us, and when I’m gone I want the people around me to remember the joy we experienced together and be comforted by positive memories in their pain. Money has no power to do this.

Rest assured, I’m not advising going into debt in order to justify spending on a whim. I’m simply asking people to re-prioritize and think about the yardsticks we’re all using to make sure that it’s the right one. Money shouldn’t be the measure of all things. It’s simply a vehicle to achieve other more important things. For some reason we’ve devalued the wrong currency.

Art Reflects the Understanding of Life

This short video is going around Facebook in this post by Albeiro Sarria.  

This video is going around Facebook right now. I can understand why the video is popular - it’s an incredible sculpture. Take a minute and watch the film if you haven’t already.

What I love about this is that art often reflects life, but this work of art goes one step further and reflects our understanding of life. This piece reminds me that sometimes things don’t look beautiful or meaningful because I’m not looking at them from the right perspective.

I’ve learned that there’s always more than one way to view anything - a problem, event, situation, relationship, etc. So if you don’t like what you see when you view something in your life, then you should get up and walk around to view it from another perspective. Nothing is completely positive or negative. There’s an old proverb that says something like “blessings don’t come without curses.” I’ve found the opposite to be true, as well. Some of the greatest blessings come from learning to deal with a situation that appears to be a curse. However, if I don’t consider other perspectives to a situation I may never see this.

Once I find the perspective that gives me the most insight (note that this may not be the most comfortable viewpoint), I stop to appreciate the beauty of having the event in my life. And when I see how it all fits together, I can also see that the positives outweigh the negatives in the larger picture.

How Life is Like Jazz

 

 A friend posted this meme on Facebook and it got me thinking that a lot of what applies to jazz also applies to life. So here are my thoughts on life and jazz this morning.

1. It exists in the moment. You can’t store it up or save it for later. It must be experienced now.

2. You have to constantly improvise for things to keep moving.

3. It’s always the right time to listen to others around you.

4. Everyone who wants it gets a chance to solo, if even for a brief moment.

5. It works best when everyone respects their peers.

6. You can jump back in and join the song at any time as long as you play well with others.

7. The more you play, the better you get.

8. If you’re dwelling on something other than the moment, things could train wreck. You can’t spend your time thinking about what happened at the beginning or trying to figure out where everything will end.

9. It’s beautiful when it’s done right.

Notes on The Treadmill of Life

Sometimes it feels like we’re stuck on the treadmill of life and it can feel like we’re continually running and going nowhere, so it’s important to maintain a healthy perspective at all times. I’ve made a list of reminders for myself to help with this. These may be useful to some of you, so here they are:

1. The treadmill is there for you: you are not there for the treadmill.  Don’t let it consume you.

2. Trials and tribulations are like putting the treadmill on an incline.  These moments will be painful, but your butt will thank you later for the awesome shape it’s in. (Note: insert “soul” in place of “butt” to make this sound more intellectual).

3. If you don’t get off the treadmill once in awhile you’re going to get a serious cramp.  Vacations prevent cramps.  In addition, your cramps impact everyone in the gym of life - so don’t be selfish and work yourself into painful spasms that cause you to disrupt the world with your annoying screams. You really do need a rest once in awhile.

4. Take time to think about where you are and where you’re going. The treadmill doesn’t actually move. It’s a process and not a destination, so slow down.  You won’t get there any faster than the guy on the treadmill next to you - running faster will only shorten your time. 

5. Cross training makes you a better person. Try something new once in awhile.

Like exercise, life is something that you shouldn’t just talk about. Get out there and live it.