Worth Ethic or Work Ethic
I read a funny headline today that stated,
"Charlize Theron's Worth Ethic Inspired by Immigration."
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| By Fuzheado [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons |
Theron's worth ethic was inspired by immigration?
Clearly this wording had to be a typo so I read further into the article and sure enough, the author was discussing her WORK ethic and how she became driven (and ambitious) because of her immigrant status in Hollywood. Without any friends or family, Theron, who hails from South Africa, discussed that her motivation came from wanting to "pay her bills and not having to work a second job, especially with no support system" in the US. Okay, that seemed reasonable and easy enough......but I just couldn't stop thinking of that notion of a "worth" ethic.
I took that typo-ed title as a cue for me to imagine what it would mean to have a "worth ethic." What would one of those look like?
A work ethic usually entails working hard and persevering. It usually speaks to one's sense of character, of being responsible, of having integrity and having a strong sense of responsibility.
Now, let's dissect what it would mean to have or to develop a worth (or worthy) ethic.
Worth is often thought of as having value.
When we think about feeling worthy, we (can) attribute this value to ourselves, we can affirm that we, as human beings, have value (just because). It has nothing to do with who we are or what we have. I think of being worthy like this, because you and I were born, we are worthy; because we are here, we are worthy (period).
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| By Madhumathi S V [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], from Wikimedia Commons |
Ethic or ethics has to do with the way something is governed. It has to do with a set of principles, rules or conditions that one may follow or live by. Merriam Webster defines it as a set of moral principles or a guiding philosophy. I like the last part about a guiding philosophy. Think about a guiding philosophy that we could carry around about ourselves, about being and feeling worthy, or feeling valuable and having a knowing that we have something worthwhile to give or contribute to the world. I wonder if people would be able to see that in us as we go about our everyday lives. Would they remark about how we had an awesome worth ethic? Would they talk about how they could tell how good we felt about ourselves (just by looking at us) and how good they (even) felt just from being around us? I wonder what they would be able to sense or feel about how we navigated the world. I wonder, what kinds of people and experiences we would attract? How much fun would we (all) be having in our everyday lives?
Hey, there's nothing wrong with being recognized as a person with a strong work ethic; I just wonder what it would feel like or be like to be known as someone with a strong or desirable worth ethic!
