Your Most valuable Asset

You are doing far too much. You are involved in too many things. Your “plate” of responsibilities is absurdly overfilled. You are asking too many questions, of too many diverse sources. You are “spreading yourself too thinly.” And none of this is any surprise to you. You have, in fact, worn these truths as a badge of some kind of twisted honor. And, to add insult to injury, our world applauds and salutes your indiscretion. You are doing a lousy job in your Personal Resource Investment Plan… and the world is cheering you on toward spiritual and emotional bankruptcy. Stop it! Get a grip on your life. Become a miser with yourself… for, my very exhausted and frazzled Reader… Yourself is the asset that you will hold yourself (at some point, or points of reckoning) accountable for.

There is, in that world of finances and money matters that formed my universe for far too many years, a guiding principle that is universally known and foundational in its import to the concept of financial accountability. It is the “Prudent Man Rule.” And it goes like this:

prudent man rule
n. the requirement that a trustee, … must only invest [assets] entrusted to him/her as would a person of prudence, i.e. with discretion, care and intelligence.
[thelawencyclopedia.com]

It is my contention that there is no asset (for which you and I are to be held accountable) more fundamental than that of our Self. That is, our energies… our passions… our affections… our physical, spiritual, psychological, and mental resources of every type and description. And we are (forgive the vernacular… but it delivers the power of statement better than any other) “pissing ourselves away!”

That is right! We are casting elements of ourselves away to every supposed immediate priority that clamors for some of “us” with every meeting of our neighborhood council, charity drive, career enhancement seminar, church “study” program, sport activity, recreational offering, professional standards update, (need I go on… I could, you know.) And our peace of mind and spirit is nowhere to be known. There is NEVER any sense of lasting satisfaction or accomplishment. You have diluted yourself through “multitasking” (Oh how I do detest that evil concept that presupposes that no one thing [or person] is worthy of focus!) to an ineffectual and indefinable substance that is so lacking in individuality that you never “Know Thyself.” For thy Self is a watered down, dispersed, and indefinable substance-less form that is totally lacking in Being.

I invite you… right now… in this isolated moment of your reading of these words from the heart of One who cries for you (because you have neither time nor energy to cry for yourself)… please stop. Look at what your irresponsible scattering of your energies is costing the long-term value of that “portfolio” that is the worth of You. Look at how you are embezzling resources from the relationships that are losing value by the unavailability of some of You to be invested in them. Why? Again why would you spend ANY of You on some “reality” TV show that captures your emotions and leaves you spent… with nothing to show for your investment. Why are you following that tragic (legitimately tragic, mind you) news event that breaks your heart, angers and frustrates you, drains away large chunks of the core emotions of You… and leaves you unable to respond to the very near needs of a relationship that would return dividends of lasting value?

For, My Very Dear Reader, (now brace yourself for a shock) you are not immortal… you are not infinite… your resources and assets are, most definitely, limited. And I am calling you to an accounting of your application of the Prudent Man Rule in the one business that you are eternally responsible for… You. Please stop “nickel and diming” yourself away on fleeting and unsound exercises in waste. Value You. Look into your mirror (I mean it… physically do it) and look into the eyes of the one sole person who controls the “purse strings” of all that is the marvelously and wondrously created You. And begin, one “No!” at a time to deny all those who (for very ’noble’ and ’worthy’ causes) would diminish what you would most prudently invest in what is of lasting and permanent value to you and those who have partnered in this business of life with you.

This is the “prudent’ thing to do. This is being strong and purposeful in a world that knows no purpose beyond the moment’s allure. This is securing, for yourself, a legacy of infinite “returns” on your investment of that “limited edition” treasure… You.


IMAGES:(Top to bottom):Ian Britton, FreeFoto.com, Public Domain, and Getty Image