What are you really worth? As a society we like to think that the value of any human life is infinite, and very difficult to place a price tag on. With that thought in mind, the medical field followed closely by numerous non profit organizations, work twenty-four seven to keep us alive and fix us if we hurt ourselves.
Medicine aside, there are right to life organizations, organizations for children, mothers, teens, and the elderly. We collectively spend an enormous amount of effort and money preserving and protecting human life. Many charities have been formed to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, and educate the illiterate.
If I were to become incapacitated, some institution will pick me up and charge the collective governments thousands of dollars a month to keep me alive if I can not pay for my own care. The governments will happily pay any reasonable fees for my care and hopefully my well being.
We have passed laws and created barriers to ending our own life. Those laws we have agreed to, silly as they are, make suicide a crime. We have social and religious mores, with strong family values programming us against suicide. For most of us, any serious contemplation of suicide has never been entertained. It is a category of thought we are programmed to flush out of our thoughts if it ever makes an appearance.
In the mean time, while all this is swirling through your head, have you given any thought to how much is your own individual life worth to you? From my perspective my life is worth much less to me than it is to others. My family will have to get through strong grief and learn a new way to live when I am no longer around.
For ‘care givers’ who would profit from our living body, our body is worth gold, almost literally. Policeman, firemen, paramedics, and who knows who else are standing by at all hours of the day and night to come to my aid. As I mentioned there are hospitals and nursing homes with open beds waiting for me to land in one. While the quality of life may leave something to be desired, the dollar amount for the ‘care’ given my remaining years would cause many to gasp at the total. And it is not over yet once I am dead, the funeral home is patiently waiting for their share.
Yet, we generally give little value to our own individual lives. If you find yourself disagreeing, stop for a moment and reflect on everything you do. Think about what you ate today. Even with the wide array of healthy food choices, chances are food choices were unhealthy to very poor.
Driving to work or two shop is the same with little concern for our singular well being. We only slow down and drive reasonably if we believe finances may be harmed in the form of a ticket, or our insurance going up. Otherwise we drive like we do not care. We also take unnecessary risks at home when we are repairing, fixing, or building something around our home.
In light of how much our life is worth to others, maybe we should evaluate how much our own life should be worth to us? Unfortunately day and time, most of us will not have the luxury of falling over dead. We have a better chance of languishing in a hospital bed for decades than we do of a peaceful exit. If that is not enough with the wide choice of medicines not only curtail or cure also can calm to the point of not caring. We run the risk of becoming voiceless, money machines with no say so of our own.
Think wisely about the choices we are making each day. Try to make choices that others would for us if they were in charge of us. Eat healthy tasty food, and get some exercise. Find things in life that arouse a passion no matter what they may be, and enjoy them.
Diet choices are simple, eat tasty healthy food now, or eat healthy tasteless institutional food later. Exercise is simple, walking every day is a good start.
By valuing ourselves as much as companies and institutions will value our bodies if they get them, we give ourselves a better chance of living a long, healthy, enjoyable life. When the end gets near, perhaps we will get lucky and simply fall over.
