If I ask you to take a 10$ bill, tear it to confetti and discard it; my guess is you wouldn't do it.
We value money. Ten dollars may not be a lot of money, but it is money. You don’t just waste it. Money is a valuable currency.
Currency. What is that?
Here’s my go at a definition. Currency is value that can be spent, received and, naturally; shared, invested and also — sadly — wasted.
Money is a perfect example for currency.
But so is health. Think about it. Health is a gift (received), that can be spent (obviously), shared (eg. help others), invested (into meaningful things, like keeping up your health) and, sadly, wasted (examples are ample).
Same (with differences) goes to time.
And kindness.
And ideas.
And many, many more, valuable things. Cookies can make a cut as a currency really (I may be hungry, or just out of ideas right now!).
While we need no reminder against literally throwing our money away, we tend to need reminders against wasting our time, health, ideas and other gems we're gifted with.
I find the semantic aspect of a word definition quite important here. In redefining, or even coining, a word, you anchor a meaning, a truth if you will.
The way I see it, our values are ingrained in us, they lace — if not directly fuel — our subconscious and thus, to a great extent, our decisions. Deciding what matters and what doesn’t. What’s urgent and what’s not. What’s worth compromising and what’s a priority.
What if you treated the little moments’ worth of light-bulb ideas as 10$ bills? Perhaps even ten 100$ bills? Would you still neglect them until they decay, or someone else invests in them?
We don't throw 10$ bills thinking meh, I was never going to spend them anyway. But yet, we defer ideas thinking meh, I'm never going to build them anyway.
We contemplate, and eventually pursue fiscal investment, because we want the reassurance of money multiplying. But with ideas, we treat them as a renewable resource; there'll be more from where they came from.
Thing about ideas, they're worthless without action. Think about a million dollar cheque, it’s worthless without cashing.
What if you mapped your priorities to actual monetary value? Would that reflect how you spend your time now?
Food for thought.
I claim no perfection in my lifestyle to be honest, I’m far from perfect. But this idea’s been lingering around for a while, I found it worth sharing. Ideas, time and compassion are a few of my favorite currencies.
Thanks for your time reading this. I genuinely hope it was an investment.