What’s the Most Important Thing in Your World?

The nicest thing I own is an antique watch.

I inherited it from a great-great relative on my dad’s side of the family who I never met. She willed it to the first great-great female who turned 18. I’ve only worn it a handful of times. It’s beautiful and a very special thing to me.

Yet if I had to quickly get out of my house, that wouldn’t be the first thing I would grab.

I would grab my cats.

While that may seem obvious—beings over things—we tend to only think that way in a dramatic situation.

In everyday life, we gravitate toward things. We want more. We buy more. We place a lot of value on them.

When it really counts, what matters is beings…

And the most important is YOU.

What’s the most important thing in your world?

How do you feel about it? What’s the story behind it? Why is is so special? How do you treat it?

Now substitute “you” for that thing.

If you were the most important thing in your world, how would you treat you?

What things make you special? What’s the story behind who you are in the world? How do you feel about you, in the context of being the most important thing?

It’s kind of a weird exercise, but give it a try.

Now, it’s totally okay to value things.

I’ll always value that watch, my wedding rings and things I have from my grandmothers.

AND, if I’m really walking my talk and practicing integrity, I want to value myself and honor myself as something special, something valuable and something with a story to tell.

I’m my own best thing … and you are yours.

For More from Lara…

Watch Lara’s interview with YBTV, where she discusses how to be a “kindness hero” and develop your own self-kindness practice.

Read more articles by Lara.