Far too many people in this world define themselves and their value as humans by their possessions. The size and value of their house, their designer clothes and jewelry, or their expensive, gas-guzzling car. Take these things away from them and they feel worthless. It’s kind of like those people whose identity is so closely linked with their job that when they retire they just fade away to nothing, and often die shortly after their retirement ceremony.
This is, in my humble opinion, a pity. We are not the things that we own. We should never let our lives be ruled by ‘things.’ Our true worth is not measured by what we own, because, and this is an important fact to keep in mind, things can be taken away from us in a heartbeat. Fire, flood, war, or just repossession or foreclosure can deprive us of all the little things that we so zealously acquire.
A sad fact of life is that we never really own most of these things anyway. Until your car note’s paid, the bank owns your car, and because most people use plastic to buy ‘things’, and are awash in debt, the credit card companies are often just a heartbeat away from being able to take them. Oh, and don’t get me started on home ownership. The real estate industry, like the diamond industry, has convinced a large segment of the world that owning a home is an absolute necessity. But, you know, you never really own that home free and clear. Even after you’ve paid the mortgage and no longer have to worry about the bank foreclosing, you still have to pay property tax—at least, here in the USA you do—and if you fail to do that, the state can seize your property and sell it at a tax auction.
Sorry if I’ve offended a whole bunch of people with that little diatribe. I think owning a home is a neat thing, but I’m realistic about it. I know that my ownership is tentative and dependent upon me paying those pesky taxes until I die and then my heirs either have to pay or, well, like I said in the previous paragraph, the state has the final say.
In his ‘I have a dream’ speech, Martin Luther King, Jr., said, that he dreamed of a day when people would be judged by the content of their character. Believe me, that is the true measure of your worth—your character. That is who you are, and that is how you will be remembered. You can be the richest man alive, but when you’re gone, it’s not your millions that people remember as much as what kind of person you were. Howard Hughes was a mega-millionaire, but when his name comes up, it’s his germaphobia that most people really remember. Sometimes they’ll remember that he built the largest wooden airplane in the world, The Spruce Goose, but it was his wacky personality that people really remember.
I’m not, by the way, suggesting that you give everything away and sit naked on a mountain top. What I am saying is stop basing your life on the ownership of ‘things.’ Don’t let the acquisition of ‘things’ determine how you live your life. My friend and Go playing partner Jim Grant says it well: “When you die the only thing you really leave behind is the memories others have of you.” Let those memories be something to be proud of. – NWI
