WHAT YOU DESERVE
Unlike most of my posts, the parable below did not come out of my own thoughts. I heard this on the radio in 2021 and thought it was excellent (and, of course, I added my own insights). The closest to how I tell it is found HERE although he includes some “lessons” I would not. At the time I sent something like this in an email to our daughters:
Here’s a modern parable and its interpretation:
THE PARABLE: A dying father called his son to his bedside and presented him with an old pocket watch. The father said, “Your grandfather gave this watch to me. It is more than 200 years old. But, before I bequeath it to you, I want you to go to the watch shop and tell the owner you want to sell it. Ask him what price he would pay for it.”
The son went to the watch shop and then returned to his father’s bedside. He reported, “The watchmaker said he would pay $5 for the watch because it is old and scratched.”
The father then said to the son, “Go to the coffee shop and ask the owner if he would be interested in buying the pocket watch and what he would be willing to pay.”
The son ran to the coffee shop and quickly returned. He told his father, “The coffee shop owner said he didn’t have much use for an old pocket watch but offered $3 for it.”
Finally, the father told the son, “Go to the museum and show them the watch.”
The son left for the museum and returned with a look of astonishment on his face. He whispered, “Father, the curator at the museum offered me $1 million for this pocket watch!”
The father laid his head back, closed his eyes and said: “I wanted you to experience for yourself that the right place, and the right people, will value you in the right way. Never put yourself in the wrong place, with the wrong people, and then get angry when you don’t feel valued. Don’t stay in a place, or with people, that don’t know your value. Know your worth.” He added, “Avoid the watch shop and coffee shop owners of the world who will never appreciate or understand your value and worth.”
INTERPRETATION: The lessons of this parable are vital:
1) We must know our own true value. This is about confidence, not arrogance. Feel assured in who you are, whether at work, home, or in your community. Never allow nasty people to define your worth. Haters never add value to anything.
2) Avoid staying in a place, or with people, where you are not appropriately valued. Stand up for yourself or walk away.
3) Better yet… learn to “pre-qualify.” Do not walk blindly into a relationship or work environment. From the very first pay attention and look for toxic signals. This means you should learn what to look for. Don’t be blind to red flags.
4) Be worthy. Work for, study for and practice for what you want to be. It takes time, knowledge, talent and persistence. If you don’t do what it takes then you won’t deserve what you want. So many think they “deserve” a living wage just because they showed up almost on time. Sure, showing up is required … as a minimum requirement, not a determiner of worth.
An abusive spouse, partner or friend is unacceptable. A boss who is belittling or a bully, a contemptuous colleague or a demeaning online connection is intolerable.
Avoid the watch shop and coffee shop owners of the world who will never appreciate or understand you. Look for the museum curators, and true leaders, who will not only acknowledge and appreciate but also amplify your value. That’s vital. True friends, stalwart lovers, and thoughtful confidants will always amplify and elevate.
5) Furthermore, think of how you value others. Do you add to THEIR value by your words and actions? Does your friend know you have his back? Does your spouse know he or she is more important to you than anyone else? Do your children see how they should behave when they mature because of how you behave and speak? Build value into other people. I’ve said it before, and included it in a few stories I’ve written: The only way to find joy in your life is to help others reach their goals. Haters never build anything. Lovers build all the time.
You can change your value. People do so with every decision they make. What you say and what you do matters all the time.
[PLEASE NOTE that Don is always open to discussing the thoughts and opinions he shares here and welcomes comments as shared in the comment section. He doesn’t use other social media platforms and won’t see whatever you’d like to share with him if you post it elsewhere. ~ Sherry]
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