Moments of opportunity, looking for Personal Value

Catching the first glimpse of sunrise is a moment of opportunity valued by some people. Seeing someone for the wisdom they have gained, the experience they possess, and the service they provide helps us to understand “personal value” better. Valuing people as more than a monetary value, which is decided by a “cost of living” scale or the amount someone is willing to pay for services or information, helps us to see others as individuals who possess personal value.

I shared last week that after spending a year thanking the people who cleaned the airport restrooms, I gained new insight into thankfulness. What I really gained in totality was an even better understanding of valuing the individual.

When I thanked the person for cleaning the bathroom each time I had to see them as an individual person. I could, in part, evaluate their skills, think about their age and experience, see their dedication, and witness their work ethic. The nagging question I struggled with was, what established or gave me a better understanding of their “personal value”? In my mind whatever they were paid probably wasn’t enough. The level of service they have to provide to all of us could definitely at times be a thankless job on any level, and would be an underrated pay scale when there is a human or technical “disasters”. I initially valued each person by how I perceived their work ethic, long term I learned to value each person because they were individuals who helped make my life experience better even in the smallest way.

When we look at (view) one another as individuals with experience and see (understand) what we all contribute to society is valuable, we can truly understand someone’s value better. We can be thankful someone understands a technology we haven’t yet mastered. We can respect the value of education and life experiences of someone that helps teach us individually. We can also understand that personal experience has great value. Experience in life is invaluable on an individual basis. In other words we all possess individual value gained throughout our life experiences.

Wisdom comes through knowledge and experience gained over the long term. Valuing people and their wisdom comes from seeing and understanding people’s individual, personal value. Whose personal value have you been overlooking, taking advantage of, or not appreciating?

…moments of opportunity to see someone’s personal value comes as we continue to build, maintain and reconcile relationships throughout life.