What Do We Value?

It strikes me sometimes, how so many different people have so many different ideas of what should constitute good values. Some people value life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which is inarguably a wonderful set of values, but are they enough? Can you value life while simultaneously promoting abortion? Apparently quite a few of us believe that you can, though I don’t know how since it is quite evident that the two are mutually exclusive. And what about liberty? Can you value liberty while speaking out against the wars that have given us that liberty? Yes, wars kill and yes, that is a bad thing. But war is a necessary evil when it comes right down to it, because there are so many arguments in this world that cannot be settled any other way.

The pursuit of happiness is something we all aggressively go after, but sometimes the goals of happiness that we set for ourselves are way too high. Perhaps you think that having money will make you happy, so you buy lottery tickets like mad, hoping to win big, only to find yourself the proud owner of a stack of worthless cardboard tickets. Would it not be much more satisfying to earn your money and invest it wisely, as well as spend it wisely? Happiness does not come from how many toys you have, but rather, from how contented you are with the toys you already have. Contentment, now that would be a really great value to place on your list. We seldom see that word used as part of a person’s values system.

And what about truth? Is that not a great value to put on the list? If everyone on the planet told only the truth all the time, think of what a world this would be. Of course, there would be some fall-out from that…Santa Claus for example, would be among the first casualties, as well as the Easter bunny, and the tooth fairy, all of whom are fun to have around but frankly, life does go on without them. Even if they were told the truth about Santa, kids would still get presents on Christmas morning, they would still get an Easter basket full of candy and the money would still show up under their pillows the morning after a major tooth loss. I never believed in either of those three characters and I never missed out on any of the holiday fun.