Essay #6

Do we only value what we struggle for?

The question as to whether we value only what we struggle for or not is not as easy to answer as it may seem. Some people like Thomas Paine think that valuable life has meaning only in struggle =, which we need to put much effort to achieve something. However, personally, I am sure that there are many other things that are valued not only what we struggle for.

I do not have any doubt that we always value what we had done strenuously. Of course our appreciation towards the actions will be higher when they end with flying colors. In my own experience, I had recently struggled to write an attractive essay for a writing contest held by Mercy Mission. A second after I read about the competition, I was determined to join it although I was not sure that I could win it. Starting from brainstorming the ideas, I really hoped that my essay would be the best among the competitors. Besides asking help from my family members to correct my essay, I had also searched in the Internet everyday to find the most suitable facts to be included in it. Even though I was going to undergo a major examination that year, I still persevered to send it. At last, my efforts were prized. My essay turned out to be the second runner-up and I received an 'MP3' as a reward. Until now, I really value the musical gadget as I will bring it along wherever I go. Thus, it is proven that we value for what we struggle.

On the other hand, gifts especially from the loved ones are really valuable for us. As we look and use them, we will see their faces slowly appear in our minds. The gifts will create a chain of valued reactions. For example, the plushies given by our parents when we are children results in a valued relationships. If they are stolen or destroyed, we will surely get mad. In fact, I also have gifts from my family which I value most. One of them is a blue Tupperware bottle from my older sister and I do not even want anyone to scratch it. This example showed that gifts are also valued although they are not what we struggle for.

Furthermore, surely most of us value knowledge that we get, especially when it changes our life. In the cyber world, we could see that many quotable sayings from famous people and wacky facts that are spread in the social sites. For example, when someone read a quote on how to be a happy person in the Twitter, he or she will 'retweet' it again to let others know. The knowledge gained in the Twitter, Facebook or Whatsapp are mostly coincidence. We only know them when someone share them with us. After that, if we find them useful, we will then forward them to others so that it will be spread out to all other people. Clearly, coincident knowledge will also be valued by us.

The examples above show that the statement we value only what we struggle for is wrong. Gifts by loved ones and knowledge are also valuable as we will appreciate them by keeping them carefully and sharing them with others. Therefore, value all the things that we get as we might not get them later.