Shownotes
Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy
Welcome to Day 158 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.
This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.
Life Is Like Money
Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 158 of our Trek, and yesterday we looked at why life is like a triangle. Today and throughout this week, we will be presenting a series of short wisdom stories. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.
We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. This episode is being released on Thursday as Paula and I are on our 7-day podcasting cruise. This week while we are out at sea, I have a series of podcasts covering short stories about wisdom without a lot of additional commentary. Once we get back from the cruise, we will remain at camp for a few days as we dive back into the commentary on the book of Proverbs.
Today we will hike on the Money Trail as we see that the value of life is not diminished regardless of its condition.
Life Is Like Money
You probably wonder what life is like money relates to? It is not about having a significant amount of money, and it isn’t about having a great big bank account so you can do whatever you want either.
Value Beyond Crumpled And Wrinkled
Instead, life is like money because, barring destroying it with fire, it always has value no matter how crumpled it is, how used it is, or if it is stained with coffee or magic marker or crayons used by a child thinking it is something to draw on.
Life is something like money in that you still have value no matter how many times you have been downtrodden or how often you have failed in your attempts to excel at a certain sport or how many times you have failed to succeed in starting a successful business.
Who You Are Matters More
The bright spot here is that your value does not come from what you have or what you own or how many homes you have around the world or any of these materialistic things. Your value is who you are not what you have.
Value Behind Bars
Even if someone is in prison for committing crimes against humanity, it does not lessen their value at all. To me, it doesn’t matter what criminal activity brings a person to prison. Instead, it is more about the value of the person within.
For a lot of prisoners, even when they are released, they wear the stigma of being a convict for the rest of their lives because they saw no value in themselves.
Failure Does Not Diminish Value
Many people who have failed often devalue themselves thinking that their failure demonstrated that they should never think of having more than they have had in the past.
Unfortunately, these types of people do not learn the most valuable lesson there is and that is failures are your best teacher.
The point is to learn from mistakes, take out what was done right, and then incorporate that planning and thinking into the next business or life event. I remember the story of a guy who started a small pre-cooked meal business hoping to move away from his current job that they loathed.
When this business did not produce the results he wanted, he just plain and simple gave up trying or even thinking of another business he could start that would move him to where he wanted to be. Would you say that this person devalued their ability to succeed?
Seeing Beyond the Present
On the other hand, I know many people who started out in business on a very small scale, and while their first few years did not produce a huge profit and actually barely covered their costs, they kept at it learning from mistakes and moving forward with better products and services until they succeeded.
Most friends wanted to move beyond working for someone else and learned that determination and the “stick to it” strategy paid off even though times were tough. In this case, they valued themselves and their abilities and saw beyond their current situation even though success came only in very small increments.
Real Value Established Through Living to the Fullest
The value is in the person; the value is in the quest to move beyond that which comes easy; the value is who they are through hard times; and the value is also who you become when you surpass your own expectations. Do you want to be more like money?
Even if you are still unconvinced of your value after this, realize that in God’s sight you are more valuable than any other part of creation. Luke 12:6-7 tells us, “What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
Tying back into yesterday’s lesson on worry Luke 12:23-25 tells us, “For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing. Look at the ravens. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for God feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than any birds! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?”
Today we looked at why our Life is Like Money in that the value remains, regardless of its current condition. While we all should strive to improve to bring more value to others that does not change our value as a person. The lessons that we can learn from each other are valuable, so encourage your friends and family to join us each day and come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy. For the next few days, we will explore some more short wisdom stories.
That will finish our podcast for today. Remember to listen to your daily dose of wisdom on Wisdom-Trek.com, or subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Spreaker, or YouTube so the episodes will be downloaded to you automatically each day. Please share Wisdom-Trek with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person so they can come along with us each day.
Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.
As we take this Trek together, let us always:
- Live Abundantly (Fully)
- Love Unconditionally
- Listen Intentionally
- Learn Continuously
- Lend to others Generously
- Lead with Integrity
- Leave a Living Legacy Each Day
This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!