More than surface value

As I mentioned before, I intern with the Student Activities and Involvement Leadership (SAIL) office at my school. The SAIL office does a leadership series every quarter and today as a part of my internship, I atteneded one of these session. Michael Sloon came to speak to us and it was a very powerful experience.

What stood out to me the most was the end. He held out a ten dollar bill and asked who wanted ten dollars. People responded. He crumpled it up, threw it up on the ground, and stomped it into the ground. Fewer people responded. He put it in his armpit and asked who wanted it.

The point is, that regardless of what was done to that bill, it still had the same value. We still know that no matter how disgusting looking, crumpled up, or dirty it was, it was still worth ten dollars. Sloon urged us to treat humans the same way, because no matter how we look on the outside, we are still valuable. People go through some life-changing events, but that doesn't mean they aren't valuable.

Think about that for a second. We ALL have value, no matter how different we may seem, no matter what we have gone through, we are all valuable. You can spend money in an infinite amount of ways, just as people all have a niche in which they belong. It is important to never forget, that just because someone doesn't fit, doesn't mean that they aren't valuable, because they are, they just haven't found where they can add the most value to. People are always valuable, it just depends on where you "spend"them. For ten dollars someone could buy a hammer, it wouldn't be valuable to me, but it is to someone. People should be surrounded with others so that their value is seen and so that it is added where it is needed.

People aren't just what they seem; under every individual is so much more and if we just judge them and devalue them because of what we first see, then we miss out on something amazing. It's like an iceberg, you may see who they are at first glance, but if that's all you give them, you will NEVER be able to appreciate what immense contributions they bring. So be kind, be genuine, and get to know people, I'm sure you'll find yourself pleasantly surprised.