On the Subject of Self-Worth

Disclaimer: This is quite possibly the longest post ever. Happy reading.

Not that there was any discussion about my "editorial" inspired by my parent-teacher conference with Jadon's teacher {at least, not to my knowledge} but I think I need to do a follow-up post on the subject of "Everyone is Special" because I don't want to give off the impression that I don't think anyone is special. I just think it needs to be clarified as to why exactly this is true. For this reason it has been on my mind lately. What can I say? I have no desire to clean or go Christmas shopping, I'm out of school, so this tends to be the result: more blog posts. Anyway, I decided to examine three different stories, meant for children {of various ages}, that address this subject and attempt to explain it.

If you are LDS or grew up Mormon, you will probably remember a Sunday School lesson or two in which the teacher failed to prepare a lesson and had you watch Johnny Lingo instead. {Oh how we looked forward to those Sundays!} The 1969 version is classic although would probably be considered a little politically incorrect, maybe even culturally insensitive, like a lot of films made in 1969. But a newer full-length film, The Legend of Johnny Lingo, was made that is better and tells the story in greater detail. Anyway, if you have 25 minutes, you can watch the original in three parts, below...







So how does Johnny Lingo attempt to explain self-worth? I thought he summed it up himself when he said, "There are many things that can make a woman beautiful, but what matters most is what she thinks of herself." I think this can be a good message because I don't think someone's self-worth should be wholly dependent on what someone else thinks of you. However, when someone sees you for who you are and gives value to it... I think there is the potential to help that person increase the value they see within themselves, their self-worth, defined as one's worth as a person, as perceived by oneself.

My next reference is a chapter from a book entitled, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. If you haven't read this story, read it. It's a book for children but it includes timeless lessons, truths really. Personally, I found it to be quite moving.


Here is the excerpt from chapter 21. Go read it. Now.

I love that the fox teaches the prince that, "It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important." Isn't it so true that when we spend time with someone, get to know them, grow to love them that they become special to us? I mean, it seems so simple but if I were to see a random person on the street, unless they were doing something outwardly exceptional, I wouldn't think they were very special. But that doesn't mean they are not found to be special in the eyes of someone else.

Which is actually a good sedge-way into the third piece of literature, a book for children called You Are Special by Max Lucado. Sorry, no links to chapters or story boards here but you can find a summary and review here. I think I first heard this story when I was 14 for 15, at a time when it is easy to question one's self-worth. Again, this story emphasizes how one's self-worth can be buoyed up when someone else sees your worth. But this someone else is perhaps the most important person. When we have a personal relationship with our maker and really feel like He knows us, the effects are powerful, long-lasting and life-changing.


So if I bring this full circle and quote again the constitution, that "all men are created equal," created by God as our founding fathers believed. If God is the supreme being who created us all, then we should all be considered equal in His sight. It goes back to this intrinsic value I mentioned in my earlier post. Now to take it a step further and apply it to my own life... If I were to see a random person on the street, I wouldn't think they were very special unless I remembered that they too are a divine creation. Would not this influence the way I treat them, the way I see them as not only a fellow human being but a brother or a sister? Think about this the next time someone cuts you off in traffic or the next time you see a homeless person. See if your attitude towards them changes. Consider it a social experiment if you must. The world might just end up being a little bit better of a place when we do.