<\/p>\n
On a long 2,000 mile car trip across the country recently, I found myself with some time to think.\u00a0 <\/span>Car trips can be good that way.\u00a0 <\/span>Somewhere along the way I found myself thinking about money and how we have come to place such value on something which is, in actuality, paper.\u00a0 <\/span>Yes, I know theoretically it is supposed to represent a certain amount of gold which is stored at Fort Knox.\u00a0 <\/span>But the reality is we have all collectively decided to place value on these pieces of paper that we offer for goods and services.<\/p>\n What if suddenly we all decided money was no longer valuable?\u00a0 <\/span>What if we no longer placed value on these pieces of paper?\u00a0 <\/span>What would happen to all these people who had previously been accorded so much status simply because of these pieces of paper they had in their bank accounts?\u00a0 <\/span>Would they suddenly become no more important than the men who pick up our garbage each week?\u00a0 <\/span>Perhaps they\u2019d actually be less important because society would realize that some of the wealthiest people in the country may not actually do much to serve the greater good.\u00a0 <\/span>Perhaps suddenly we would have renewed respect for those who collect our trash and those who grow our food and those who teach our children.\u00a0 <\/span>Maybe we\u2019d learn to place value on completely different things.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve also been pondering the value of all the possessions I\u2019ve been moving from one place of residence to another.\u00a0 <\/span>(Something I seem to be doing rather a lot of in recent years.)\u00a0 <\/span>I have learned this past year that I can live with relatively few possessions.\u00a0 <\/span>Likewise, I have friends who have moved back to the States from Costa Rica and Ecuador, respectively.\u00a0 <\/span>Both friends returned with only a few suitcases of possessions.\u00a0 <\/span>We all marvel at how little we actually need to own (and cart around with us!)\u00a0 <\/span>When I rent a furnished home, all I really need fits in one car.\u00a0 <\/span>And although I have books and paintings and plants that I really enjoy, the fact is, I don\u2019t need to own them.\u00a0 <\/span>I actually need own very little in order to survive and be happy.<\/p>\n What do you most value?\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span>What would you most miss if you didn\u2019t have it?<\/p>\n When I was driving and I got to the Midwest, I began hearing more country songs on the radio.\u00a0 <\/span>What I began to appreciate about many of the songs I was hearing was the songwriters\u2019 appreciation for the simple things in life.\u00a0 <\/span>I heard at least two songs which mentioned feeling grateful for \u201ca roof over my head and shoes on my feet.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>How often do we forget to appreciate the most basic things?<\/p>\n What do you most value?<\/p>\n If you\u2019re thinking of possessions, I urge you to broaden your thinking.\u00a0 <\/span>Here is what I most value:<\/p>\n The first four items on my list ensure physical survival.\u00a0 <\/span>The last three things ensure emotional and spiritual health.\u00a0 <\/span>Sure, I could survive without beauty, but my spirit would wither.\u00a0 <\/span>Sure, I could survive with people telling me what I could and could not do, but it would not be a very pleasant existence.\u00a0 <\/span>And what\u2019s the point of any of the above if there is no one with whom to share it all?\u00a0 <\/span>We all need someone to care about us, to love, to keep us company, to talk with.<\/p>\n I submit that if we suddenly had no money in this world, our sense of what is valuable would shift considerably.\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>Suddenly we\u2019d all be hungering for fertile land with good supplies of clean water, and either places of shelter or materials from which shelter could be built.\u00a0 <\/span>If we get back to the basics, this is all we really need. Everything else is just icing on the cake.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s put things in perspective.\u00a0 <\/span>Let\u2019s be grateful for the simple things.\u00a0 <\/span>A roof over our head, shoes on our feet, clean water to drink, good food to eat, and someone to love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" On a long 2,000 mile car trip across the country recently, I found myself with some time to think.\u00a0 Car trips can be good that way.\u00a0 Somewhere along the way I found myself thinking about money and how we have come to place such value on something which is, in actuality, paper.\u00a0 Yes, I know…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":553,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,509,507,508,506,298,303,22,504,300,258,510,304,502,503,505],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blessings","category-clean-air","category-clean-water","category-fertile-earth","category-inequality","category-living-simply","category-living-without","category-love","category-money","category-possessions","category-simple-pleasures","category-someone-to-love","category-survival","category-value","category-wealth","category-whats-important"],"yoast_head":"\n\n