INSPIRATION
The Notion of
Self-Worth
By FELICIA S.W. THOMAS
author, attorney and editor. I’m a member of a
very large and quirky family. The raggedy car I
drive can’t tell anyone those things.
My car is old. It’s on its last tires. It’s falling apart
and becoming an eyesore. But it’s paid for. It gets
me from A to B, and on a good day, C, and it’s
paid for. Sure, my car is such a wreck that a thief
would break into it to leave me a sympathy card.
So what! What my car is not is a measure of my
qualities as a human being. It cannot.
The ticket price of a brand new 2014 luxury vehicle
starts somewhere around $38,200.00. One year later,
its worth is less than half. A high-end designer blouse
might fetch 20% of its value a year later, at a consignment shop or a single dollar bill at a garage sale. Today,
a first-time, out-of-the-box, sixty-inch flat screen with all
the bells and whistles can be purchased for pennies on
the dollar on eBay.
Things depreciate. They lose their value after the
passage of time. Despite this fact, so many people are
intent upon defining their own self-worth by the things
they own. Possession of a mansion, a luxury car or the
trendiest attire seems to be the criteria for a quality
person, an important person, a person of status.
I have a problem with that. I have a problem with
linking who I am to what I live in or what I drive or what
I wear. I’ve encountered people who don’t know me
but are quick to make assumptions about me because
of the tangible things they see around me. They’re
missing the big picture.
In my opinion, people who lust for brand named
clothing (I once heard a woman refer to herself as
a “brand whore”—that’s another article for another
day) and can’t live without the latest smart phone,
have a deep, psychological need to be liked. They
must be well-thought of in the eyes of another.
They need a status symbol with a high dollar
figure to feel good about themselves.
Frankly, I don’t give a damn if peopl