That is me and the man that I love and value tremendously. In this picture, we are getting ready to do something that we value and that is volunteer. We have been blessed in so many ways and giving back to the community is very important to us and is a mutual value we share. (Actually, if we had to be honest, we always feel guilty when we volunteer. We get back so much more than we give. Don't tell the organizations that we volunteer for. We don't want them to know.)
We also value life. All lives. That is why we are proud that our group of friends is eclectic. My parents taught me that you can always learn something from everybody. They challenged me to learn something from a different person everyday. My man came from a different path. He was taught to fear people and the only value to be concerned about was status. He learned that he was missing out on a lot of life lessons, so, now he talks to everyone, and learns something from everyone. In addition to that, we show that we value life by giving the gift of life. We regularly donate blood. It is how we start our Saturday mornings four times a year. It is an amazing feeling and takes so little time.
We value Angels. Those are mine when they were babies. They are now 26 and 22 but when I look at them, I still see them as those little angels. My baby has given me a grandson and anyone who knows my partner and I knows how much we value our perfect grandson. He brings perfect perspective to our lives.
We value laughter. Ok, I thought this cartoon was hilarious. My partner thought it was amusing. We have different tastes in comedy, however, we both laugh at ourselves. My partner laughs at all my attempts at humour. I love him for that. Regardless, we value laughter. Life is complicated. People are deeply flawed. It is hard getting through this world without having a good sense of humour.
One thing that we are both working on is how to value money. Some people give too much value to money, others to little. We are working on giving the value to money that it actually is and not any more. Valuing money is a hard one in society because we spend publicly and save privately. As a society, we seem to value the things people have equating it to having more money. Many times, it is just that they have more debt.
There was a reminder in entertainment news today that we should not value money as much as we do. Erin Heatherton filed for bankruptcy. Now, a person filing for bankruptcy should not make the news unless you know that Erin Heatherton used to be the girl-friend of Leonardo DeCaprio. Even more impressive, Erin Heatherton used to be a Victoria's Secret Angel. I don't know much about modeling but I know that being a VS Angel is right up there with the cover of the SI swimsuit edition. That gig alone is supposed to set you for life. In his documents, she listed assets of $6464 and liabilities of $560,242. Most of her debt is credit card debt with a maxed out line of credit for $200,000. It seems that the rich, beautiful, and powerful are not immune to living above their means. Also, anyone who values money over other things usually ends up paying the consequences. I imagine having this story on the entertainment channels is humiliating. At 30 years old, it appears Erin might have to get a "regular" job.
There is still hope for everyone who values money too much. Learn to value other things more. People first. Then things. Then money. That is the common sense that Suze Orman used to dispense. Not bad advice.
Here is the ironic thing. The less you value money, the richer your life will be. Looking for a place to start? Start by finding something that makes you passionate and volunteer.
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