A Measure of Value

"The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it."

                                                                                                        -Henry David Thoreau


When you hear the word, "Price," do you immediately think of money? I do. This quote reminds me there is a deeper way to evaluate value.

The measure of value, the standard of value in our culture is usually based on how much it costs. Dollars and cents. Does that make sense?

What is, "The amount of life," and how do we exchange it?

Time is one way. How much time we give something is one way to determine its value. Time is something we all have, probably in more abundance than money, although it may not feel like that some days.

There are several  quotes about spending our money on experiences rather than on things. That the value we put on experiences rather than filling our lives with things will have more lasting value, give us a fuller life.

There are many questions to ask here. What do I value most? How do I express that? What amount of life am I willing to exchange for what I value the most? When I hand money (or swipe the debit card) across the counter, I am giving up something, for something else.

Warren Buffet - a guy who knows a little bit about money - said, "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get." Interesting thought. Not thinking in terms of what I am getting, the thing itself, but instead, think of its value, to me, to our family, to our home, to life, to the world.

How will its value express what is most valuable to me? Lots of questions, no answers. Just ideas to think about.

How do you define value, how do you perceive value?