Michael Jackson's worth

Welcome to my first blog!! This is a very exciting day for me – one my son has been pushing me toward for at least a year. Today we watched the Michael Jackson memorial service, and I thought this is something I should blog about! So I am.

I grew up listening to Michael Jackson, and I love his music – he was very talented. I can’t even recall too much about all the trouble he has been in over the years. What I paid attention to today were the comments from his friends and family. Sometimes I instruct seminar participants to write their own epitaph – what would they want on their tombstone. A better question is what will people say at your funeral?

Let’s go even deeper. Why do you want to be loved? What makes you important? Where should your self worth come from? This question is so intriguing to me that I began a PhD program just to check it out!

So, here it is – here’s what I’ve been noticing. We are living in a world that tells us that we should gain value from living a stressful life. This is especially true for women. I have been speaking to women’s groups around the world for several years now, and I see this trend everywhere I go. We don’t know where our self-worth should come from. Is it from being a good mom or wife? Is it from work? I see women getting value from their stress. We compete with one another for how stressed we are!

How do you know if you are getting self-worth from stress? Here’s one quick little test. Let’s say your friend tells you, “Wow! Today I had the most relaxing day. I went shopping and saw a movie – all by myself.” If you reply, “Must be nice!” or anything like it you may be getting value from your stress!

Maybe Michael Jackson got his self-worth from his talent. Maybe he got it from the causes he supported. Or maybe it was from his relationships with friends and family. Who knows. Where do you get yours? I will have SO much more to say about this as time goes by. Stay tuned……….