When did I stop deciding I was worthy? I can’t think of a day or a time. What made me question my worth or had I never considered my own worth until I compared myself to someone else? These are questions that have suddenly come into my mind and each question seems to raise more questions.
Did I feel worthy at ten, twenty or thirty years old; was it a question that ever crossed my mind? Does my worth hinge on one single element of my life, my inability to have a child? Is that the one deciding factor that I allowed to consume me and devour my worth?
Wow.
I decided to Google “people who are worthy”. The instant result was the top 10 people with the most money. Yes it can be helpful to not worry about money but having a big bank account doesn’t make someone worthy as a human being.
I looked up worth in the thesaurus and it gave a long list of synonyms. As I scrolled through I picked up on: decent, honest, noble, trustworthy, good, moral, dependable, ethical, righteous and virtuous.
Another quick Google and I found “What Makes a Worthy Person? “The Four B’s” which went into more detail about: Being, Belonging, Believing and Benevolence.
Now things were starting to make sense and I could see why I doubted my worth but also why not being a mum wasn’t a good enough stand alone reason for that doubt. I also thought of one more question. Are we born worthy or do we have to work at being worthy?
Yes, I believe we are born worthy, because we are innocent. In equal measure I believe our real worth is yet to be determined by how we treat others. We have every opportunity open to us to do acts and deeds that make us worthy. Giving birth is not a reason to automatically deem our self worthy it just gives us a responsibility of guiding a child to discover their own worth.
Our kindness, generosity and thoughtfulness of other can make us worthy. The smallest of actions can make someone else’s day worthwhile and in turn show our worth. Giving our love, time and support willingly to others can show our worth. Allowing our self to make mistakes and learn from our errors can show our worth. Staying humble and enjoying what life throws our way can give us worth. Accepting that we can’t always have what we want and forgiving our self for our own self doubt can give us worth.
It is how we treat other humans, animals and the planet that can give us worth.
So today my #Flip The Script is #worthyfromthedayyouwereborn
Stephanie Phillips
Founder of World Childless Week