What a wonderful little big film. I consider it one of the best Christmas stories I know. Thank you so much for sharing it.

Merry Christmas and a very happy smiling New Year from the Netherlands,

Ewald

You’ve succinctly said what I have been believing for years. Thank you for putting it so eloquently.

I truly believe that a person’s worth has nothing to do with the external factors right now (like what you do, what you say, how you act). What matters is what you are becoming, and most of the time other people don’t see it, even those closest to us. It’s interesting to note that when you start believing this about yourself, you start believing it about other people (many times vice versa as well). It frees you as it frees others in your view. I’ve found that since believing and acting this out usually frees other people too. It becomes contagious. Some people “get it” and embody it as well. Others just consume it. You can’t teach it, though. It has to affect people. That’s why I’ve never found self-help books to help. They don’t dig into where you get your value from.

Personally, I find mine from a higher being. My personal belief is that my value is completely outside of what others think of me, or even many times what I think of myself. Let me tell you, that is probably the single most freeing philosophy I’ve experienced.

Regardless of whether you believe your value comes from a higher being or not, you are valuable. Valuable to so many people. And even if you didn’t do the job you currently do, you would still be valuable. The point isn’t who you’re valuable to, or that you need the external validation. The point is that you change lives even without knowing it. When you live your life knowing that at any moment you could be changing someone else’s life, that’s freeing.

Simply giving a quarter, holding a door, smiling. They’re simple actions, but to the right people, they’re life saving.

You may never know where you’re valuable… but that’s just it. When you depend on the validation from others, you’re only going to be valuable when and where you’re going to receive that (true or false) validation. At that point, it’s less about them and more about you. That’s rarely where people are most valuable (when people are selfish or even self-seeking). It’s when you’re selfless that you become valuable when and where you least expect it.

Anyway, just some more thoughts to chew on… Thanks for giving us the opportunity to respond to your ponderings. Keep it up.

Cheers, friend.

That is my experience as well. Chasing happiness seems to make it get farther away the harder it’s chased.

In contrast, dwelling in joyful moments magically attracts happiness.

Thanks for sharing the movie. I’m going to use it on our site, and in my presentations to business people, helping them understand the powerful subtleties of social media.

– Jack

This post triggered a lot of thoughts.

Imagine a world where people don’t smile. Can you laugh at it? Can you be happy in it? For how long?

There are many different answers.

Thanks again.