Are You Giving Your Value Away?

Rev. Dr. Kitty J. Boitnott, NBCT

Certified Life Strategies, Holistic Wellness & Stress Management Coach

Career Coach to Teachers and Mid-Career Professionals Experiencing the Pain of Job Burnout & Stress

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I had an interesting dream recently, and I still remember it quite distinctly. I was on some sort of treasure hunt. I was out somewhere that I didn't recognize looking for something of value, but I wasn't sure what it was.

After a time, I found "it." It was a beautiful wreath that was made of gold nuggets, diamonds, and sapphires. It was beautiful! It was also clearly extremely valuable.

In the next segment of the dream, I gave the wreath to a woman who had offered me $1000 in advance if I found the "treasure." I handed the wreath over to her and received a check for $1000.

Later on in the same dream, I came to a conscious realization that stopped me in my dream tracks. I had just given that woman something of incalculable value for only $1000! What was I thinking?

I realized with a sinking feeling that I had just "given away" something of great value for a fraction of its worth. While $1000 is a lot of money if you have nothing, it was no where near the value of that beautiful gold, diamond, and sapphire wreath.

As the realization sank in, I experienced a sense of profound let down and disappointment in myself for having settled for $1000 when I knew I could have gotten so much more had I not acted prematurely.

As dreams do, that dream faded into another round of REM sleep, but I woke up remembering the image of that wreath in my mind. The photo I found on Shutterstock is as close to what I recollect as I could find.

As I was reflecting upon the dream, it occurred to me that it offers a great lesson for me to continue to hold on to; and then I decided it was a lesson I should share. 

What is the lesson? How often do we each give away our value or underestimate our true worth, ultimately settling for less than we deserve? More often, I suspect, than any one of us would want to admit.

For me, at least. the dream serves as a great reminder. Too often, we may find ourselves "giving away" our talents, gifts, abilities, and even our passion because we underestimate our worth.

We need to stop it.

It is one thing to give away something when you are fully aware of its value. It is a totally different thing to give away something that it is of great worth, and you make the mistake of underestimating its worth.

Value yourself. Value your talents, your skills, your abilities, your experience and your education. Don't underestimate yourself and don't sell yourself short.

Dreams can hold lessons for us if we are lucky enough to remember them. This one held a nugget of wisdom for me, for sure. I hope it will help to serve as a reminder for you, as well. You should never give up your worth for less than you deserve.

Until next time.

Photo by Shutterstock 

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