11/9/24-Having Value

What is the value of a human?  In my opinion, there seems to be a few ways to look at this question. 

First, I think if you just look at the raw materials in the human body, the elements that make up our organs and the fact that a large portion of the body is just water, the matter that makes a human is probably not worth a lot of money.

Secondly, I think you can look at the value of the body as what is it worth to someone else.  Its extremely morbid but organs can be purchased on the black market for millions of dollars.

I don't like either of those ways to measure the value of a person.  I prefer to not look at the value of the life of a human.  What does a person contribute to their family, friends and society should be what we look at when we access the worth of a person.

For the past 4 months I have spent much of my time sitting around the house.  I passed my time watching Netflix or YouTube.  I did attempt to start some new hobbies.  I wasn't able to do much physically because of  the medical limitations of the cancer treatments and the external drains.  While it was nice to spend some time with my family, being stuck on the couch for such a long time was pretty depressing.  It was not the way I lived my adult life for the last 30 years.

I take pride in my work.  In the Navy I made sure that I worked hard and did my best to get the job done.  When I got to Kasier I tried to keep that same work ethic in my daily tasks.  I wanted to be someone that my bosses depended on and had confidence in.  I wanted to be a person my coworkers would ask for help.

But for the last 4 months I wasn't able to work.  My daily life didn't have a purpose.  It didn't have any value.

The good news is that I am at a stable point in my treatments right now.  I don't think I'm necessarily getting better, but I don't feel like I'm getting worse.  And the external drains are gone for now.  And this new stability has finally allowed me to get back to work.  I'm only able to work part timeand with some physical limitations, but I finally fell like I'm able to be useful part of a team again.  And that has helped my mental healing.

And, more importantly,  I'm making a contribution.  The value of my daily life has gone up.