Living Life by Design

Photo by Julie Rybarczyk on Flickr

You are more than your behavior. You have great worth outside your behavior.  – Greg Anderson in Cancer Conqueror

Where is your worth placed? Specifically, where do you place your worth? Do you place it in your performance? Your work? Your relationships? Your family? Your religious activity? How well your kids turn out? Each of us has a tendency to place our worth outside ourselves.

I don’t have this down yet. I don’t have it down for myself nor in how I treat others. My tendency is to place my worth in my work and in my relationships. Because of that tendency I do the same to others. If clients approve of my work, I feel valued. If my relationships are going well, I am worthy. If others are performing to my criteria, I approve of them. Yet, how quickly life becomes a roller coaster if our worthiness and the worthiness of others remains based on such rashness. It is unhealthy in many ways – including emotionally and physically. Even our immune system degrades when we place our worthiness outside ourselves.

The truth is our worth isn’t wrapped up in what we do, nor is others’ worthiness based on their behavior. Our worth is because we are. As a person, we have worth. As a living human being, we are worthy. And, so is everyone around us. It’s not in what they do or in their behavior. It’s in the fact that they exist. They are worthy.

Since they are worthy, my task is to accept others, not approve of others. We accept others as fellow human beings even though we may not approve. Our task is not to judge whether or not we approve of their behavior, but to accept others because they are worthy.

If we really live this:

• The pressure is off to perform.
• We don’t need to judge others.
• We live free.
• We live healthy.
• We can just be.
• Others around us can just be.
• Life is good.

Where do you place your worth? What helps you to just accept others vs needing to approve their behavior?

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