When I was just a kid we had a different mentality than what today’s kids are getting (or better say got) used to. If something was damaged, our first action was to try and find a fix to it. Whether it was a shoe, toy, electronic, etc… we used to keep on fixing it until fixing the item was not possible anymore. Today we live in a different reality, if something got damaged, most probably you’ll end up replacing it without even considering the cost to fix it (unless you are really broke or if it is something that cannot be replaced).

Last Christmas, it was our first one at our new place. As one could expect, we had to buy decorations but when we were looking to buy a figurine of baby Jesus, we opted to fix the one my parents had. The cost of buying a new one was much cheaper than the cost we were asked to pay in order to fix ours but still we opted to fix it anyway because it had something that no money can buy, it had a special value, a sentimental one.

By now you might be thinking, where is he going with this? Unfortunately since we got used to the mentality to replace anything which is broken with a new (and possibly better version) one, we ended up using the same mentality with each other. You have an argument with a friend and instead of trying to find some common ground and get things fixed, you look for other friends. Same when it comes to relationships, one argument and you call it a day and start looking for the perfect replacement without even taking into consideration the value of that friendship/relationship. This it totally wrong!

The secret to successful friendships/relationships is to value them and when something does not go as one would expect it, one need to stop and think about the consequences before reacting. Is it worth it to react in anger? Will it solve anything? What do we have to lose? Am I doing something wrong? Is there anything that can be changed to avoid such situation in the future?

Unless we start to appreciate the value of things, we will never be happy with what we have and we will always keep looking for a better version until we meet our end and realise that we’ve spent our lives looking for something better when we could have enjoyed all we had (and possibly lost due to this mentality).

“The sharpest sword is a word spoken in wrath.” – Gautama Buddha

_{* Featured image taken from Focus on Value, Not Price – ASG Strategies}