On the deepest level, we value our children’s lives even more than we value our own and are ready to sacrifice our own lives for theirs.
We value uniqueness in our lives and we value uniqueness in what we have.
We also value immediate pleasures and when addicted to these pleasures, we sacrifice our own lives as well as the lives of others to satisfy our desires and needs. Despite the fact that most things come with a price tag, in the end we alone determine and set the true value of everything we have and everyone we know by how much time, energy and money we spend on them.
Mr. Crazy as he was called in his community was regarded by most to be about as worthless as one could get. He was an alcoholic who stood on a street corner every day in the cold rain as well as in the burning sun greeting and smiling at the people and the cars that passed by. Most people knew him and greeted and smiled back. Some would stop, chat and have a laugh with him for a few minutes. Most pitied him, especially when it was cold and wet. Deep down most were thankful whenever they saw him that they and their children were not in his shoes.
Herr Von Doctor was Mr. Crazy’s doctor. He was a specialist at killing cancer cells before they killed his patients. He was very highly educated and was up to date on all the latest treatments recommended. He had a very good success rate at prolonging the life of his suffering patients, but it required very expensive equipment and very powerful medication that had devastating side effects, not only for their health, but also for their life long savings. He was very highly valued, not only by his patients and their families, but also by the pharmaceutical industry.
His treatment promised to extend, by 5 years, the life of those diagnosed to live only a few more months, with an added hope that new and better treatments would be available by then.
Both Mr. Crazy and Herr Von Doctor lived a long life and died within a few months of each other. Despite their obvious differences, they had many similarities in their lives. They never married and died childless.
Soon after they died, it was deemed that
slowing down,
smiling, chatting and laughing and
being grateful was a more effective treatment for cancer with better results than the devastating chemotherapy advocated by Herr Von Doctor.
The value of anything can and does fluctuate with time. A piece of meat can be worth a great deal when you are starving. Its value can drastically drop to a negative if it comes with maggots that end up killing you instead.
THE END
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