You Are Worth Every Penny... And More

How do you feel when you work extremely hard for something only to see others not appreciate it?

When I was in high school I used to love to where my older brother's clothes. I thought he had the coolest style and all his clothes, shoes, hats, and jackets looked so nice. I would constantly ask him if I could wear his stuff and he would constantly tell me, "No! You don't know how to take good care of my clothes. They didn't cost you anything so you don't care if you mess them up." While what he said often hurt my feelings, he was dead right.

He would work during the summers, getting up around 6am five days a week, and then he

would use his money to buy the clothes he liked. But me, I would play during the summers and then ask him I could use his hard earned clothes. And, if I messed them up, I really didn't see it as a big deal. The reason was because I didn't sweat for them, sacrifice my sleep for them, or give up my free time for them. He did.

The point is, until you actually feel the sting of your sacrifice, you tend not to care much for that which you have. Have you ever given someone something for free that you worked hard for? If they trashed it or didn't care about it how did you feel? You see, if it didn't cost you something then it is usually not worth it to take care of it.

There is something about your investment that engages your heart, whether it is an investment of time, money,  advice, or energy. Most people want things for free, but when given things for free they treat it like it was free. However, when you pay a pretty penny for something, you could be darn sure that you're more apt to care for it. You have to learn to not give for free what should be an investment.

No one wants to give their time to someone who doesn't appreciate it. No one wants to give money to someone who is just going to throw it away. And no one wants to pour energy into something that will not yield an investment.

Your time, resources, energy, and effort are an investment. Everyday you make deposits, the question is, "Are they the right deposits?" Are you investing in things or people that are going to yield a worthy outcome. What you have is valuable and you are selling yourself short if you are working all summer only to let someone wear your clothes and trash them.

Whether it is services you are offering or time you're investing it is worth yielding something. If you don't believe that you are worth it or your time is worth it then why should anyone else? You have something great to offer, treat it as such and invest it as such. You are worth every penny, every second, every ounce of energy that you give, and more.