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WORTH v. VALUE
Thursday Oct. 27, 2016
You can’t take it with you. We’ve all heard religious types say that you don’t need it where you are going. Non-religious types say ‘once you are done, you’re done’.
Our ancestors witnessed this. For thousands of years, that ‘leaving it for children’ philosophy of building wealth, leaving legacies for the next generation, then the next, and so on – has been lauded. In recent years Gates and Buffet types have brought attention to ‘give it all away while you are still alive’ notions. Easily said for billionaires giving away most of their billions, but they aren’t giving away their homes or ‘everything’ – or enterprises that produced their wealth. It’s not a shell game, I’m just pointing out they aren’t taking themselves back to nothing, to square one.
I’ve never shunned wealth and admit to having pursued it, had it – albeit briefly, only to find that ‘having’ wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Living a ‘high life’ wasn’t either. Many learn that lesson. Some quickly, most not. For many years, I was in the ‘most not’ category.
What we leave behind is not what we gave to causes, foundations or family.
Better measurement – what we do while alive, imprints and footprints where we’ve been, what we did that mattered, impact we had on people – one at a time. Some knew, and for some who never knew – sometimes achieving intended results. As often, different result entirely. What matters is that we make effort, spend time. Sometimes spend money – investing our time, committing our work and minds to something worth doing, committing to solving problems worth solving.
What’s your worth, what’s your value?
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