How do you measure the worth of a (wo) man?

How do you measure a person, a man or a woman? What kind of people do you have in your life?

It has been quite evident to me recently that many people measure others based on the external.  I have known this most of my life; remembering the stares I use to get as a child....when people looked me up and down....looked my parents up and down….when their eyes and demeanor told me that being poor meant I wasn’t good enough for them….

Some people feel the need to have new shiny things, brand named items…keep up the appearance….

Is it because they really want those things or is it because they believe if they have those things they will be accepted and seen as good…beautiful…successful…..

What does material things really prove about people… does it mean that those who don’t have those things or don’t value those things are less than…not good enough?

I am not saying that people who value material things are bad. I have friends and family that have brand new shiny houses, cars, and money….I love them and they love me…the difference is they are comfortable with who they are with or without their possessions…they value me for me and I value them for them..no discussion of material things or worth based on material things…they don’t criticize my mismatched, chipped dishes, my beat up ford, my 1200 square foot house….they accept me for who I am…

I  have friends and family who live in trailers, low-income housing, who receives public assistance….who struggle to make it through everyday… I feel exactly the same way about them that I do my friends and family who have money and material possessions. It isn't about stuff...it is about relationship..

As a society, we don’t often cross “classes”. We don’t often associate, really associate with people from different economic backgrounds. We often stay in our comfort zones. We may say we have friends from all walks of life…but do we…do you…why or why not…you can only answer that from within…

My answer is yes…I do…I have people in my home, in my life and in my family that represent wealth and poverty…those people are in my life not because of what they have or not have but because who they are as people. I measure the worth of a person based on internal qualities. I measure them based on the love they have for others, the acceptance they show for others, the understanding they have for humanity, and for their honesty.

I have no desire to keep up with the “Jones”. I don’t care “what people do” or “what they have”....I care about “who they are”. The next time you meet someone, instead of asking them “what do you do”....try asking them ....“who are you as a person”…..because to me what matters is the inside self…the internal qualities of a person…

How do you measure the worth of a person….who are you surrounding yourself with and why…

Someone very close to me reminded me of this:

”This above all: to thine ownself be true,
 And it must follow, as the night the day,
 Thou canst not then be false to any man.”                         -Shakespeare-Hamlet 

Are you true to thine ownself?

Keeping it Real with Dr. Mary G