Tubes of Chapstick

Everything today is about value. Unfortunately, this isn't Raiders of the Lost Ark, and everything we deal with isn't a big-ass chunk of gold. That's easy to assign value to. The value we talk about these days is more ambiguous. It's easy to figure out what an hour of training is worth. A tube of Chapstick, though. That's different. What if that Chapstick had been with you for months? Sit the fuck down, and pull up a coffee, this might get The Matrix deep.

Life hurts. CrossFit really, really fucking hurts. Still, we truck through them like delta force on a mission from Chuck Norris.

I will finish this tube.

I try not to paint everyone's facebook wall with daily updates on what color my shit is.  I wait until I have something important or funny to say (at least in my mind). Everywhere you look, the discussion centers on value. Value for consumers, value for shareholders, value for loved ones, or for our audiences. That's why I don't post something every day. When I do, I fucking mean it. I want to bring value to the reader (That's you).

What is value though? We know in terms of the physical it's a measure of relative worth in some medium (like money) that can be exchanged for it. When you're talking about a video or a piece of writing it's no longer that simple. It's more like, "What is the value of NOT getting kicked in the yogurt factory." We know that it's EXTREMELY valuable, but we're hard pressed to put a dollar amount on it.

Reality is perception, so if we feel it, it's real.

Another way to define value is relative merit, importance, or worth. There's that word again - relative. That's important, but relative to what? It depends on your place in the universe when you make that valuation. This is more inline with what I'm getting at. Value isn't the absolute "cost" of something, it's how much it's worth in relative terms - taking all other factors into account - such as is this better than something else I can have. Is this this video worth the five minutes of my life that I'm trading to watch it? Is this blog post worth the mental energy and cranial storage space for expletives that it'll use up?

This isn't just about media though, it's about our lives. We want to live lives of value. Life hurts. CrossFit really, really fucking hurts. Still, we truck through them like delta force on a mission from Chuck Norris. We do it because we understand the value in these things. We know that we must endure the hardships of life with a sunny disposition if we want the good stuff. We know that we have to do the filthy fifty so that we can increase our fitness, feel good, and spend more time on this mortal coil without shitting our pants uncontrollably.

Seemingly meaningless, insigificant things can carry more weight than Rob Orlando. People and things can become infinitely valuable to us in many ways. If they change us for the better. If we fall in love. If they've been with us for a long time. The soul of nostalgia and the connection that we feel with people, we also feel with things - like tubes of Chapstick.

It's wonder it got that green, always being empty like this.

I've had a tube of red (What is that shit? Cherry?) Chapstick for over six months now. This is the furthest I've ever come. I'm on a mission to finish it, not dooming it to the fate of billions of it's brethren in the washing machine or dryer. It shall not pass into shadow left in a jacket pocket until summer, then unceremoniously tossed. It's been in the truck for quite a while, and I've oft gone without it rather than remove it from it's cozy home in the center console. Why? For fear of losing it. It's valuable to me...I like having it around. It's worth about $1, but the history I have with it is priceless. I realize this is melodramatic, but there's a big rope of truth running right through the middle of it.

Reality is perception, so if we feel it, it's real. I'm a pretty nostalgic dude. I've had the same wallet since I was twelve. No joke, it's the only wallet I've ever had. Its now careworn innards are stained green from all the one dollar bills that have passed through it on their way to strippers g-strings and bartenders tip jars. It's the Darth Vader of wallets - more duct tape now than leather - and dreaming of the day it will rest in peace. It's valuable to me. I lost it twice, and both times I almost lost my mind...but thankfully it was returned

This is the only wallet I've ever owned.

Sometimes we dismiss people. They may have been in our lives in a significant way or not previously, but for whatever reason we've decided they were out. Then, slowly we realize how valuable they are to us. The time spent with them is important, maybe even critical to what makes you who you are. Then you realize you need them - to shine in a place where anyone else would only fill a void. It's like when you bought that new car, but have secretly always missed your old one.

In real life though, we have to realize how valuable people are to us before they're history like a cookie at the Daigle compound. You can buy a car back. Someone will probably return your wallet. Chapstick can be replaced for next to nothing after only a brief period of mourning. The value of people in our lives is so great, that once they've vacated their place, for better or worse, it can never be filled quite the same way again. Remember the things that are important, and how they got that way. Your friends, your loved ones, barbells, CrossFit, and even tubes of Chapstick.