To Add Value

This phrase "adding value" is fast becoming a cliche`. I've heard it, read it, and said it myself.  Adding value, as I understand it, means to increase the evaluation of something through an application of effort or substance.  Thus, to add value to my marriage for me might mean to work harder at the relational aspects and by so doing the evaluation, or in this case the strength of the bond of the marriage relationship, would be increased. 

Why do we, or should we add value to anything?  Do we do so out of a desire to build a reputation for ourselves, or to please another person, or out of guilt, or under duress?  When is adding value truly valuable?  If I apply more effort and enhance the value of my work, do I do so because I choose to, or because it is expected of me, or because I'm afraid I will be fired if I don't?  Does any truly altruistic motive come into play?  If my motive for adding value is not altruism but something, anything else, and I would suggest that anything not done out of altruism is a lesser motive, does it truly add value?  I would think the answer is yes, but then the question is: how long can I continue to add value if my motivation is less than altruism, and at what point do these lesser motives undercut the value I am attempting to add?  Ahhh, but do they have to under cut the value?  I would say that in most cases the answer is again, yes.  In fact I would suppose that such is the cause for much of the apathy and anemic performance we see around us; for even in adding value, it is just as quickly removed by harsh words, negative attitudes, and lackadaisical performance

Yet, is there something to be said for allowing these baser motives to become a stepping stone for the greater motive?  Can I practice something out of duress and, over time and with greater understanding, come to practice the same thing out of devotion and love?  Where is the tipping point?  Is it the time or the greater understanding, or perhaps something else altogether?  Whatever it may be, I do see that it is possible for love, for I believe that to be the essence of altruism, to take root and grow and even to flourish in the most harsh climes when that tipping point is reached.

How then do we find this tipping point within ourselves?  Even as we may feel bogged down in the mire of life, could there be any hope to truly adding value?  I think there is hope but it comes at a cost so great that many if not most will pale from the consideration.  It is to choose to open our clenched hands of self and me.  Our hands have been clenched so long, either holding onto our precious treasures (in reality pathetic baubles) or raised in anger against God or the universe for the circumstances of our lives, that they don't come open easily.  This is where the time comes in; it is so much harder for those of us who are older to unclench our hands  for we feel we have so much to protect that letting go is hard.  Add to this our resistance to understanding which comes from our certain knowledge that we HAVE knowledge and you can see why a motive of true altruism is so rare.

Can you do it?  Open you mind to the possibility of another's perspective.  Practice adding value from lesser motives while slowly opening your clenched fist to find hope and perhaps even the greatest motive of all?