Wealth, Value and Word – Defining Our True Value
How do we define our wealth? Money in the bank? An entire portfolio of stocks? Real estate holdings? A bundle of precious metals like gold and silver? A treasure chest full of precious jewels?
Isn’t this the simple truth: that a man’s true wealth is only worth what his word is worth? If a man cannot keep his word, then what of his intrinsic wealth and worth? If his words are worthless, then isn’t he useless? Are not empty words mere empty vessels, mirages in the desert, ghosts? In this age, doesn’t there seem to be a dangerous trend of individuals, businesses, or corporations not bothering to honor his word? With this in mind, what is our true value?
If we give up our word to earn a certain amount of money, for example, then whatever amount of money we earn in the process becomes our value, doesn’t it? But isn’t our character worth more than money? More than a celebrity? More than fame? More than our name on a door?
Wouldn’t it be better to eliminate the monetary or material factor associated with our value and live a life based on the ethical foundation that our wealth is only worth what our word is? What has happened to the virtue of a person or entity that keeps its word, honoring its commitments, obligations and promises with the sole purpose of preserving its character, its greatest good?
In “A Preface to Morals” (1929), Walter Lippman said: You have honor if you stick to an ideal of conduct even if it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.. In other words, having honor is not about “talking the talk” or “walking the talk” but about “walking the talk.” Do we “walk the talk” or just talk what we talk and do it without any commitment to do what we say? In simple terms, do we do what we say we are going to do despite any inconvenience, payoff, or danger?
Confucius said, The superior man acts before speaking and then speaks according to his actions. In other words, the top guy walks his talk.
Why do some people, companies, corporations and organizations not keep their word? Have they lost the concept of “honor”? Have they devalued themselves so much that they don’t care who they are or what they represent? Have you been so consumed by greed and self-interest that you cast yourself like a shadow, abandoning substance?
There seems to be a common maxim in the world today: If it is not in writing it does not count. In other words, even if we give our word to someone and don’t put our words in writing, what we say or have said doesn’t count; it has no value and therefore can be discarded. It only has value if we sign our own statement freely given without harshness. Honestly, does our word really have to be put in writing to be kept? Maybe legally, but on a personal level, shouldn’t our word take precedence over our signature? Have we lost sight of our higher self so much that we cannot honor what we say? Have we disengaged from an ethical tether, thinking that just because we don’t put our name on paper, our word doesn’t count, that it’s meaningless, worthless, and can be excused?
The simple question is: “Why can’t we keep our word?” Have we debased ourselves so much that we have sold our souls for a few meaningless coins, even a few dollars, or even many dollars? What is money anyway? When we die, our money surely doesn’t go with us, or anything we bought with it. Where then is the spiritual benefit of the material things we gain by violating our word to acquire them? We destroy our relationships over those nonsense things, we sell our souls for them, we try to stop people from stealing them, and then when we die, people fight over them. In the end, what we thought had value has no value. So why not focus on keeping our word, which goes directly to our character, which, in turn, will be with us after we begin this life and move on to the next?
Summary
A man’s wealth is only worth what his word is worth. Talking for the sake of talking or walking on the road does not make sense. Only do what is said account Money, power, riches, fame, fortune and celebrity, the things that commonly drive most of us, are worthless if acquired by violating our word, our bond. Keeping our word is the true and only measure of who we are. Wealth, fame and fortune are nothing more than illusory facades. Not keeping our word is violating our own spirit, our intrinsic value and leads us down a path of disgrace, ethical poverty and ultimate ignominy, not to mention the damage we do to other people’s lives by not keeping our word. On the other hand, keeping our word not only makes us rich, noble, trustworthy, and honorable, but it guarantees a peaceful, trustworthy, and noble path. ~ finished
Copyright 2011 by Richard Andrew King