Valuable

​I saw a post on Facebook today that totally blew me away.  It showed a picture of an old car covered in dirt and dust.  The dad said to his daughter I am giving it to you for your graduation.  Before you take it, please get it valued at the car yard.  They offered a grand.  Now get it valued at the pawn shop.  They offered $100.    Take it to the car club.  She got offers of $100,000.
I could not help but think how I mistakenly value people sometimes.  I may see someone as a $100 person and another as a $10 person.  The thing is though, we are all $100,000 people.  I think I am wrong if I regard a person in power, or a celebrity, as the $100,000 person, and others as worth less. 
But I reckon the worst mistake I can make is to value myself as a $10 person.  I may be that to someone.  I may be a $100 person to someone else.  But to another I am a $100,000 person.
I thought of the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”  I reckon value is in the eye of the beholder too.  If I am dying of thirst and someone can offer water, water is incredibly valuable to me.  If I am incredibly cold, a coat is very valuable.
To me, the person who has an office job and goes there five days a week, the mum who looks after the kids, the person looking for a job, the person who invents their own job, the person with a disability - all are $100,000 people.
Yet when it comes to me, so often I am inclined to sell myself short.   The value of something or someone, is measured by the value the valuer puts on it. There is no doubt in my mind I will come a cropper if I measure myself by a false standard.
I reckon even criminals are $100,000 people.  How often have I heard it said “shoot the lot of them.”  I know someone who murdered another.  I have lunched with them.  They are not the same anymore.  Some might say “can a leopard change its spots?”  I do not reckon it can, but if the question was “can a leopard have its spots changed?”  I would offer a resounding yes.  Happened to me.
Wars are not won by individuals.  They are won by armies.  The one who cooks the meal is as valuable as the one who holds the gun.  The person who plans the strategy is important, but so is the mechanic who ensures the vehicle is in working order.  Take away any skill set, and success is likely to be failure.
I really need to stop selling myself short.   I am a $100,000 person.  My role may not be visible to many, but it is to some.  It makes no difference if I am an unknown or a household name, I am valuable.