What is Value?
How do we measure the value of another human being? Seems to me that we spend a great deal of time building lists of their accomplishments, their badges, certificates, diploma’s and other such things that serve as some sort of justification for their life. But really, what is the significance of all that stuff? There are so many ways we look at another persons life, I often wonder if it is even possible to identify those redeeming qualities that makes the lifespan of any person truly memorable. But, perhaps that’s exactly it, isn’t it? You have to ask yourself very quietly, what is it about this person that will cause me to remember them tomorrow, next week, next year, or perhaps a decade from now.
I’ve often been told by those that have worked for me, with me, and for whom I have worked that I am a truly “memorable person”, but when I ask why, the answer rarely comes with any distinction that one could hang their hat on. It’s a nice sentiment, but it does beg the question; why do you remember any particular person?
Having just buried a brother in law that I liked a great deal, I have pondered that question and finally think I’ve come upon the answer. It was rather simple; it was because ….
Not much of an answer, eh? He was just the sort of fellow that was, as some would say, larger than life. Perhaps because he and I had that in common. Not to say he was a celebrity, no, not at all. He was simply a man that stood up for what he believed in and rarely wavered, even when he was wrong. He was the kind of man you had to respect because even if he made an ass of himself, he did it in his own way and it was right, for him. You could love or hate him, but you always knew why … and maybe that’s why he is so memorable. He stood up for what he believed in and he wasn’t afraid to tell you, to your face, why he was right and YOU were wrong. It had nothing to do with facts and everything to do about being himself.
The individual. That’s what makes him so memorable, and after all, what man is dead as long as he lives on in the memories of others?
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