What makes you feel that your life has been valuable?

It is the value of the material objects I have assembled. My homes, my cars, my artwork, my jewelry, my stock portfolio, my cash, my pork belly futures, my electronic gadgets, and the size of my flat screen television.

My teaching of adult education literature courses which give people a chance to examine their values and explore intellectually. Also, my sons who are both becoming loving and loveable adults. And my woman friends from whom I get so much and to whom I give so much.

My kids make my life valuable. If they turn out to be fantastic human beings, then everything is worth it. On a smaller scale, learning to be a better person and knowing that i have changed makes it worth it too.

hey @janbb, what about your fabulous collection of Manolo Blahnicks?

I worked at a large corporation and helped them to make money and pass some of that along to their shareholders. Something to remember when I’m lying on my deathbed.

Nope. Nothing.

The times I’ve made people laugh or conversations where I felt the barrier between me and the other person was stripped away and we just became like a single unit, totally understanding each other. Or music or films or books I’ve experienced where I felt transported outside of myself. Or things I’ve written that fully expressed what was in my mind. The mystery and magic of those things makes me not care about whether my life has been valuable to others or to the world because those experiences have been so valuable to me.

We midwives often say we change the world one birth at a time. When women are treated with caring and respect during pregnancy and birth, some of them will apply what they have absorbed to their mothering, which really has the power to change the world. I believe that widwifery done properly and wholeheartedly is as much a calling as it is a career.

I stopped retiring babies a few years ago, and now do more general women’s health care. It still feels like a calling to me. We go through many changes and transitions in our lives, and we all need a little help and support. It makes my day when a woman walks out of my office after an annual exam saying, “Thank you so much for taking the time to listen. I usually dread these visits, but it wasn’t bad and I learned something too”.

@MagsRags Much lurve and kudos to you! Wonderful, valuable work.

I’m not sure I can determine my own value. I guess I am as valuable as I am valuable to others. That’s a whole lotta value.

My family, my friends, my education, a comfortable home. Cliche, but true.

@janbb , thanks for the lurve. I’m also fortunate enough that I get paid enough to suport my family doing work I love and am good at. There are a lot of folks out there doing important work who get paid minimum wage. Childcare workers come to mind, also those who care for the fragile elderly. Occupations that fit into the traditional mold of “women’s work” are seen as unworthy of a living wage.

A childhood friend sent me a letter in the mail two years ago. She was thanking my me for taking her to church with my mom and I. She’s now really involved in her church and loves God. That makes me feel like I’ve done something.

My family (specifically, my wife’s family) my friends, and all the dogs I have had as pets. Cats are trouble, but dogs; there is nothing in the world more loyal than a dog.

@pdworkin I keep telling you, it’s Jimmy Choos, not Manohla Blahniks. Men!

well, I knew it had something to do with your feet

They’re supposed to go on your feet?

Has been?

Cliche warning.

My kids. I had a terrible childhood, and really feel I found my calling in becoming a mother. Giving my girls a better childhood than the one I had is probably the most important thing I’ll ever do for them (and myself). Raising them to be decent human beings is probably the most important thing I’ll ever do for the world as a whole.

Note: I am not trying to say raising children is the most important thing anyone can do… just me.

The relationships I’ve built and the relationships I’ve enhanced are all there to show that my life is not worthless. I don’t have to be Mother Theresa to have some “value” to my life.

Valuable? What, you mean I could sell it or something? My life is insured for $100,000, does that count? Most executive managers make between $100,000 and $150,000 a year, but they don’t have the benefits I have, so you could use that value.

I have helped several thousand people towards their goals, so that might be “worth” something, but who would know how to value it?

Raising sons and grandsons – Priceless.

When I stop worrying about whether or not it is valuable, or how much value it has. Those kinds of assessments aren’t helpful. Next.

My experience of people, travel, literature, and mostly my wife and daughters. I have lost everything I own a couple of times – had to start again – so I learned that material assets are not anywhere near the top of the list.

all the people whose lives I’ve touched – that’s valuable to me
and that includes my past loves my future loves and my children

…one must first assume that any life has value in the first place.

My children.

They are the most intelligent, witty and thoughtful people I have had the pleasure to know and I know for a fact that each one of them will make a positive impact in someone else’s life.

Are you asking about what makes me feel good or how much I owe on my student loans?

My life is valuable because it is. What else do I need? Life didn’t give anyone a quid pro quo, you know? We all got life and it just is.

My military career that has spanned almost half my lifetime.

I think what makes me feel that way is only if i know that i made someone elses life more valuable to them..