The Real Value

 

The Real Value

    In Colombia, the country where I am from, most people are elitist, and that includes my family. I grew up believing that a person is important only for what they have to do to live, but not just for be a human being. However, I am a rebel. I loved going against my parents and their beliefs. I assumed that I was different from them. However, all children are like a sponge that retain all information, and I was no exception. In my unconscious, I believed that, too. When I arrived in the United States, because the type of visa I had, I wasn't allowed to work. Only my husband had permission. At that moment, I felt empty, purposeless and worthless. My personal challenge was to give myself the value that corresponds to me, not for what I do, but for who I am.

    Hollywood sold me the idea that in this country, most people don’t judge each other for what they have to do to live. I loved that idea because I thought that I was different from my family. However, when I arrived in this country, I noticed that in my mind, I generated prejudices about some people. Nevertheless, the universe knows how it does things. It put me here, in Chicago, for a divine reason. I have been lucky to meet wonderful people from different cultures, who do all kinds of things for a living. I have been able to learn the real value of human beings.

    Sadly, not everything is rosy. I’m a therapist. My profession is so important for me, not for the value that I assumed it gives me, but because it is something that I love to do. It is a big part of my happiness. However, my degrees don't have value here. Although many professions can be validated in the United States, most healthcare professions are very difficult to validate. The reason for this is because each country has its own health standards. Knowing that shocked me. Just when I thought I had overcome my family's beliefs about the value of human beings, I found a system that didn’t value my education or experience. That was so frustrating.

    Everyone grows up with beliefs that could limit or expand their lives. Belief that people are only important for what they do for a living is a limited view perspective. In the United States, I learned in a deep way that all human beings are important, regardless of what they to do. In Chicago, people could be students, attendants, doctors, homeless or stylists, and all of them are important. At the end, the most important thing is not what people to do to live, only what people are. Fortunately, and thanks to the universe, I learned my lesson, and I found my real value and others.