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Look at this image and tell me… What do you see?
If you’re like me, you see a wadded up five dollar bill. Now, I want you to pretend that it’s your five dollar bill. Would you throw it away just because it was wadded and wrinkled?
Of course you wouldn’t. That five dollar bill is still worth five dollars, even though it’s seen better days.
I think in life we could all compare ourselves to that five dollar bill once in a while. Sometimes the person we currently are is fresh and crisp. We’re without apparent blemish, we’re desired, and we’re sexy. People see us, and they want to have us in their lives. They want to hold onto us. It is not hard for them to see the value we hold.
Other times, we’re wrinkled. We’re worn out. We’re far from at our best, and we can sense that people would rather have somebody cleaner, crisper, and fresher in their lives. Our edges may be a little torn and our corners a little bent. People see us, and they only take us if they have no other options.
Other times we are wadded up. We are all but destroyed. We’ve been shut out and closed off. We are hardly recognizable, and few there are that want us. We’ve lost so much of who we are that there are few marks to distinguish us as valuable at all. We’ve been to hell and back, lost in dark corners and all but forgotten. People see us and question whether we’re worth bending over to pick-up at all. It’s at times like these that we are as close to worthless as we’ll ever be.
But guess what… you’re never worthless and I’m never worthless. It doesn’t matter if we’re at our best or at our worst, we always hold the same value whether other people see it or not… Whether we see it or not.
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Thank you for the reminder of our true value.
I am definitely at the wadded up and all but destroyed phase,
but I look forward to regaining my strength and displaying true value to my daughters.
Thanks for Sharing this Dan...reminds me of something My Dad taught me many years ago: 'Son' he said...Clothes don't make the man or woman, it's whats in their hearts ! He went on to acknowledge that the statement was not original to him, it has been passed on. He again reminded me that it matters not what we look like, it maters what we do, especially for others on the Journey of Life* Dan, Who You Are Makes A Difference**
I have thought about this post non-stop since I read it about 36 hours ago. I swear, it (and the posts about what's normal and perfection) is the best thing I've ever read in my entire life. When I first saw the image of the trashed $5 bill I didn't notice it was trashed. My actual reaction - and it was out loud - was, "Oooh! Five bucks!!!" Anyway, I was bullied horribly from the ages of about 8-18 and I got very down and ended up isolating myself really bad. Discovering your blog has turned out to be a God-send for me. The post about what's normal was like the sun breaking through the clouds whilst all of heaven broke into glorious song. For the first time in my nearly 34 years I'm starting to feel normal. And the sheer genius of Wrinkly and Worth It gave me the stones to talk to a guy I once had a small crush on, at last night's hockey game. I'm not crushing on him now but I found out that he's a pretty nice guy, a huge hockey nut like me, and he remembers the fantastic mullets NHL'ers used to have 20 years ago. I don't know if anything will come of our exchanging pleasantries and if it doesn't that's ok. But the fact that I felt it was o.k. for me to speak to him is nothing shy of a miracle.
I have thought about this post non-stop since I read it about 36 hours ago. I swear, it (and the posts about what's normal and perfection) is the best thing I've ever read in my entire life. When I first saw the image of the trashed $5 bill I didn't notice it was trashed. My actual reaction - and it was out loud - was, "Oooh! Five bucks!!!" Anyway, I was bullied horribly from the ages of about 8-18 and I got very down and ended up isolating myself really bad. Discovering your blog has turned out to be a God-send for me. The post about what's normal was like the sun breaking through the clouds whilst all of heaven broke into glorious song. For the first time in my nearly 34 years I'm starting to feel normal. And the sheer genius of Wrinkly and Worth It gave me the stones to talk to a guy I once had a small crush on, at last night's hockey game. I'm not crushing on him now but I found out that he's a pretty nice guy, a huge hockey nut like me, and he remembers the fantastic mullets NHL'ers used to have 20 years ago. I don't know if anything will come of our exchanging pleasantries and if it doesn't that's ok. But the fact that I felt it was o.k. for me to speak to him is nothing shy of a miracle.
Dude, I cannot believe people said terrible things to you when you were younger - you are 40 or 50 different kinds of gorgeous, not to mention completely brilliant. I hope you win the lottery and marry a supermodel and live a long, happy, fabulous life. You deserve it!
I'm still working on myself. I'm definitely very wrinkled. But my best friend is much worse off than I am, and I am definitely sharing this with her. You are eloquent enough to put words into the things that I already feel about her.
My recent post Siddhartha- by Hermann Hesse
Sheer genius!
Aww.. Thanks, Dan. I just finished a blog on value... how we value ourselves.. but also, how our friends sometimes de-value what we do or who we are.
Comparing man with money? Clearly, money, the more ancient the more no function but the higher its value and more in demand. While humans, the more older the more no function and more not required, sometimes even not ignored.
Why is it that once we've been crumpled, we need a hot iron to straighten out? It's like a refining fire for wrinkled paper. The heat can burn the edges--permanently--and that's the cost of getting ironed out, I guess. Good, thought-provoking post. Thanks!
My recent post Six Months Ago
I love this!!!!! Thanks Dan!
My recent post Helpless or hopeless
Good post. Right now I am definitely wadded up. I'm tired and I'm sad and some days I just don't want to go on. But this post helps. I'm not useless, and things will get better.
I'm all torn up and in need of taping back together at this point. Worth 5 dollars, though? Probably.
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I'll never look at a wadded up, wrinkled beyond recongnition dollar bill ever the same way again.
I'm definitely just past that stage. I've just survived one (if not the most) of the most difficult times of my life. I'm well on my way to becoming that strong, unbreakable person that I am meant to be. It's definitely true that the more trials and tribulations that we experience in life, the stronger we become. I would never want to relive those darkest days, but I'm most certainly going to be a much more amazing person at the end of this very long trial in my life. Thanks Dan for your amazing words.
A post I NEEDED to see today...well said and thank you.
My recent post Would the real me please stand up
I like to think of the wrinkles as marks showing life experience... that the tears and smudges make us the person that is seen by others as fresh and crisp - a wonderful analogy Dan.....
I am severely wadded up, but still solid and unbreakable ... maybe that means I'm a five dollar bill with a Tyvek Sheet Protector over it. I don't feel crisp and smooth, but if I met someone who was, I'd probably be tempted to wad them up a little so that we can at least be on the same level. Come to think of it, if I met someone who wasn't wadded up to some extent, I wouldn't believe they were a genuine functioning human being - because isn't life really all about the wadding and stretching we go through on a regular basis? I must be as kind to myself as I am to a $5 bill I find wadded up on the sidewalk - pick myself up gently, smooth out the major wrinkles and place myself in a spot of honor in my wallet (my heart). This was a good one, Dan.
This is a great message :)
Really inspirational.
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This is a great post.
I'm now at the point of coins, and I'm lucky to have found it in my life as early as I have. I can accept myself for who I am, I am sure of that person, and I am comfortable enough in my own skin to know my capabilities and my faults and accept them. I have learned when to ask for help.
My recent post In The Words of Admiral Ackbar- Its a Trap!
Great analogy, I love it and totally agree!
In the end it's not about other's it is about self. If there is anything I am realizing as a mother of four and wife of 15 years it's the fact that I can FEEL torn,scuffed, frayed and tatterered but I am not worth that. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these words you write "Our worth is so real that we can even be ripped into pieces without losing it."
Awesome!
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Thank you for sharing this message. My best friend ended his life last Friday and since then, I have had so many thoughts going through my head... including anger at the fact that he has left the trials and hardships of this life, and I'm still here... just trying to keep my head above water. I loved him. He had depression, but beneath it, I could see him as a $5 bill that was a little wrinkled and torn, but still had a lot of value. And now he's gone. Since then, I've been struggling to see my worth, and how I can possibly go on living a normal life after my best friend gave up. So thank you for this. Thank you for a spark of hope that all of us... every single one of us, can be put back together.
MJB, I am so sorry for your loss.
I'm glad you felt that spark today. You can be put back together and you are worth the effort to put back together. The fight is worth it.
I am sending you e-hugs!
Depends on the day (and how much sleep I got the night before).
Today I'm feeling less-than-crisp, but I blame that on this retched on-going cold that just. won't. die...
It's a great message but you think too much. Try to balance on the razors edge between logic and heart, I trust my gut instincts and cultivate them, they keep my head true.
sorry here...but when I see the wrinkled $5 bill....my OCD kicks in and I want to straighten it up (we had to do that when I worked as both a teller and in the vault at the bank!!) I know, off topic...but maybe not...maybe that's how I see others too, I want to help them look/feel better too...
love your blog!
It's almost as though you wrote this about me! I'm wadded up, ripped, torn, and broken at the moment, so I totally relate to this article. Great observations!
have been using the wadded up $5.00 bill story with my fifth graders for years. it is a nice lesson for children, they get it...too bad more grownups dont.
I've heard it before. Trying to teach the worth of each life to kids works well with this object lesson... I took a $1.00 bill, wadded it, spit on it... grabbed their dog and fake-wiped her butt with it... and asked "Who wants it NOW?" after each action. They all did... One asked for 4 quarters instead. lol but the value never diminished or wavered no matter what shape the bill was in. Same with our lives. Each trial we go through absolutely makes us stronger. Pain = eventual strength.
you are my hero !!
seriously, day after day, you knock it out of the park.
keep it going man !
thanks !!!
Great comparison. At different times in my life I've felt like each of the various representations of the bills you've shown and the coins too. Brilliant article and I'm working on getting to where I feel like the coins.
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Love the inspiration. Thanks for sharing this morning!
After 4 days of cuddling a sick 4 1/2 year old, I think my 5 dollar bill has also been used as a facial tissue.
Y'know what? Wouldn't change that for a bit - wouldn't be the first time I've laundered the money ;-)
I've always loved this analogy. It is so true and yet so hard to put into practice for ourselves - or even with people we know we should care about but don't treat as if they are really worth what we know deep down they are. I personally like the "wrinkled five dollar bills of my life". They usually have more character and love and their hearts are easier to reach than the crisp, right off the press people. Thanks for sharing and reminding me to look at everyone for who they are not for what I see.
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I'm close to becoming just scraps of paper. This message came in handy. Sometimes it's easy to feel worthless. Thanks for the wonderful message.
Wrinkled, torn, soiled and folded into a tiny wad stuck in a crack in the sidewalk.
Wonderfully written and extremely well-timed! Thank you!
LOVE. THIS. Thank you!
I am currently the wadded up 5 dollar bill but I am in the process of working it all out, I needed this today. Thanks
Dan, this might be my favourite of your posts so far. What a perfect metaphor. I actually only saw the $5 bill, its crumpledness didn't matter to me. If only I could apply that to my everyday life, both looking at myself and others. Peace be with you today, my friend.
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Wow. Another thought provoking post. most days I feel crumples and try my hardest to appear perfect and crease -free to others - its exhausting.
Great reality check! Thanks for passing it on. It's not always easy to remember our worth.
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Awesome buddy. Just awesome. :)
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That was a beautiful analogy, and although I've been trying to tell myself I do have worth, what I've yet to strive for is the harder goal of being indifferent to perception. Perception, whether it is my peers, or myself, is just that. It's not the *truth* in any way. The only reason why almost nobody can see their self-worth is because they're blinded by how others perceive them. We're all too preoccupied trying to improve their outer and inner image when all along neither exists. It's just us. This post helped me realize that. Thank you. (I especially needed it after I was rejected from all my dream music schools yesterday. I felt like a complete failure).
My recent post So This is What Its Like to be a Failure
I feel like I'm straight, but being pulled on by both sides.
But don't worry. They can't break me. They're stopping now.
Wow Dan this was good timing I just lost my job and I feel Like the wadded up five dollar bill right now. This made me feel a little better so THANK YOU for that :-)
Thanks for the inspiration. You've now prompted me to write a post about this on my weight loss blog. I think being reminded of our self worth from time to time is totally worth the effort. Thank you!
This post made a lot of 'cents.'
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You know, right now I'm definitely in the process of getting unwrinkled... But the good thing is that I know it's possible to do.
My blog about overcoming my eating disorder: http://builduppeace.blogspot.com/
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what a wonderful way to start my morning! thanks so much. sometimes its really uncanny that waiting for me on your blog is just what i need to hear that day. this morning was one of those. i'm just going through a time of trying to get unwrinkled (again) and your post today made me smile and helped a bit to sort out one more little wrinkle. thanks Dan. keep being awesome!