Self-worth basically refers to the value you place on yourself, and is expressed by how you treat yourself and other people. My self-worth is my judgment of what I am worth, but what do I judge that value against? To the universe, all people are of equal value. And that covers everything except my value to other people and the social systems they invented.
After much thought I realised that the universe’s view of everyone being equal should be the base that guides how I judge my value in daily life. Using the usual human way of judging my worth means I have to compete with others to make myself important to other people and the social systems. That is difficult to do because it means working hard to become better than others at something, maybe even get my name into the Guinness Book of Records. It might mean becoming a leader in some field so that people regard me as a celebrity, or role model. The competitive way of judging self-worth divides people while producing more losers than winners; which is just the nature of competition. That is why gaining self-worth from being better than other people, and maybe pushing them down sometimes to make sure I am superior, doesn’t fit in with the idea of equality.
If I am capable of gaining much more in the way of wealth, power, skills or knowledge, than other people, would believing in equality prevent me from that level of achievement? Believing in equality doesn’t stifle achievement, it encourages achievement, while guiding how we achieve and why.
Equality gives a sense of importance from what we contribute to advance society, or individuals, rather than what we take from society to boost our own standing. But the fact is that, before we can contribute, we must first gain the skills, knowledge, understanding, wealth, or power to share with others. So, striving for all those things doesn’t necessarily go against the idea of equality. It guides how we achieve our goals and what we do with what we achieve.
Achievement guided by equality is the human version of Darwin’s theory about the survival of the fittest. In regard to humans, the theory is better thought of as ‘the survival of the most adaptable’, and it gives hope that the human race will survive if it chooses to base its future development on the equality of all people.
Bob Myers, author of Travelling the Road of Peace and Happiness.
After much thought I realised that the universe’s view of everyone being equal should be the base that guides how I judge my value in daily life. Using the usual human way of judging my worth means I have to compete with others to make myself important to other people and the social systems. That is difficult to do because it means working hard to become better than others at something, maybe even get my name into the Guinness Book of Records. It might mean becoming a leader in some field so that people regard me as a celebrity, or role model. The competitive way of judging self-worth divides people while producing more losers than winners; which is just the nature of competition. That is why gaining self-worth from being better than other people, and maybe pushing them down sometimes to make sure I am superior, doesn’t fit in with the idea of equality.
If I am capable of gaining much more in the way of wealth, power, skills or knowledge, than other people, would believing in equality prevent me from that level of achievement? Believing in equality doesn’t stifle achievement, it encourages achievement, while guiding how we achieve and why.
Equality gives a sense of importance from what we contribute to advance society, or individuals, rather than what we take from society to boost our own standing. But the fact is that, before we can contribute, we must first gain the skills, knowledge, understanding, wealth, or power to share with others. So, striving for all those things doesn’t necessarily go against the idea of equality. It guides how we achieve our goals and what we do with what we achieve.
Achievement guided by equality is the human version of Darwin’s theory about the survival of the fittest. In regard to humans, the theory is better thought of as ‘the survival of the most adaptable’, and it gives hope that the human race will survive if it chooses to base its future development on the equality of all people.
Bob Myers, author of Travelling the Road of Peace and Happiness.
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