Your Value

Even the government recognizes what you know or what you do as being of value.
Even when no real money is exchanged when bartering for services - one may still be liable for taxes.
Insurance companies attempt to calculate what one might have earned if they would have continued to produce when trying to figure out ones Human Life Value.
Judges often weigh the social impact (education, volunteer work, membership in churches or philanthropic organizations, etc.) of a person when handing out sentences.
When one dies, what he'd done for others is mentioned more often than what he owned.

But most people value themselves by what they have and not by who they are.
In my younger years - my status was my identity.
When describing me, the description of my material goods or social status was all that people would mention.
But who wants to be defined by what they own?
Isn't that limiting?

As an test of my character I gave everything away.
I wanted to know if my generosity was just given from my abundance or whether it was part of my substance.
I wanted to know whether I was good or just lucky.
I wanted to do well but not at the expense of others.
I wanted to know whether I was of any real value beyond that of which I owned.

As of now, I'm still not sure.
Most of my attempts at helping others have failed.
Most of the money given away has been wasted.
Most of the time spent trying to teach others could have been spent doing more for myself.
I think that by helping others I've increased my self worth but diminished that of others who are now even more dependant.