I’ve come to realize that many quotes that purport to feature words of wisdom – those sometimes sage but sometimes not – sapient sayings that so many people love to like, post, tweet and retweet, etc., are fine and all, being relatively harmless. When it comes right down to it though, they are simply just so many words, aren’t they?. In my opinion, in many cases they are not even worth the paper they are printed on. Or, in the case of one I recently read, it wasn’t worth the screen space taken up by the imagery of it, which was that of an open book with the script shown on one of its pages.
I recall it stated something about money, followers, degrees and titles not being impressive, and that kindness, generosity, honesty, and humility were. After looking it up again, I have the gist of it right.
Personally, not only have I nothing against anyone that is kind, generous, honest and that has humility, but I am one of multitudes that possess each and every one of these valued traits. Kudos to us, I guess?
However, when it comes to money, followers, degrees, and titles, let’s dig a little deeper, starting with the easy one that has been thrown in there to belittle those who have followers. I understand that many of those that do, have them for all sorts of less than virtuous reasons, such as Kim Kardashian. Having said that, she has well over 350 million of them on Instagram, and when combined, she and her sisters have well over 1.5 billion loyal disciples on that platform. Is having the sort of economic clout that comes from that many IG followers, which can earn them $500,000 or more per post, not impressive?
As far as titles go, regardless of whether we are talking about political titles such as President or Prime Minister, those in the judicial system or legal realm such as Chief Justice or Managing General Partner, those in the world of business such as CEO or CFO or in sports such as boxing’s World Middleweight Champion or triathalon’s Ironman, to me, they are all impressive. In fact, even those much more pedestrian in business, such as Proprietor, Principal, Owner, Founder or Director, as far as I’m concerned are all impressive. I, for one, am suitably impressed as, in almost all cases of those being awarded these titles – nepotism and favoritism – aside, those individuals worked both very hard and smart to attain them.
With respect to degrees, the same applies. Any degrees, from those awarded by the Ivy League to those from a community college are impressive to a degree – pardon the pun – and as far as I’m concerned, worthy of respect. When I hear stories of those that have had to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and were able, against all odds, to get themselves accepted into and graduate from an institution of higher learning, I’m definitely impressed. Especially since I myself never acquired one.
Money rounds out the four categories of things deemed “non-impressive” by the author and those that agree with the virtue-signaling statement. I’m not sure where to start on this one, except to begin by asking if we are really to believe that we should not be impressed with those that have done whatever it legally takes to “make more monie”, securing a bright future for themselves and perhaps others?
Conversely, we are supposed to be impressed by those of us that relay kindness, generosity, honesty and humility – all traits that many of us already innately have anyway – just for having them?
Count me out. As glad as I am that I, along with many others I know, are humble, kind, generous and honest, I’m far more impressed by those that, in addition to already possessing those same traits, have “made more monie”. Not surprisingly, they seem to have done so by either figuring out and tapping into today’s social media economic boom, working up the ladder in whatever corporate or other environment they earn a living in to acquire a respected title, or by having spent endless days and nights in class and lecture halls, absorbing and understanding all it takes to master a subject and obtain a master’s degree.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein should not be construed or considered professional advice. Nonetheless, thanks for reading! If it resonates, there’s “plenty more where that came from” on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube ‘n’ Twitter.