{"id":3228,"date":"2004-07-26T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-07-26T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/worth-it\/"},"modified":"2021-06-23T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2021-06-23T22:20:10","slug":"worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Worth It"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is the third installment in a series of articles based on chapters from Alan Cohen\u2019s new book<\/i> Mr. Everit\u2019s Secret: What I learned from the World\u2019s Richest Man.<\/b><\/p>\n

On my birthday, Mr. Everit took me out for lunch to Curry in a Hurry<\/i>, my favorite Indian restaurant. They rustle up palak<\/i> paneer<\/i> so spicy that steam shoots out of your ears. Taking me there was obviously an altruistic act, since he doesn\u2019t like hot food and they don\u2019t serve chocolate desserts.<\/p>\n

On our way back to the 4-Runner (which Mr. Everit had named Big Buck) we passed a slick little men\u2019s boutique called Sassy. In the window I spied a sweater that got me drooling. It was an ultra-lightweight multicolored Jahyne Barnes<\/i> weave that looked masculine yet playful. I stood there for a while eyeing it; I swear it had my name on it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s go in and have a look at it,\u201d Mr. Everit encouraged me, opening the Sassy<\/i> door. I made my way to the window display and turned over the price tag. $250.<\/i> That was all I had to see. I dropped the tag and started to head back out to the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere do you think you\u2019re headed, bucko?\u201d Mr. Everit asked me, holding his hand over the door to bar me from passing.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t really want it that much,\u201d I answered in a blas\u00e9 tone.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, really?\u201d he answered sarcastically. \u201cDo your eyes always bulge out of your head when you\u2019re unimpressed?\u201d<\/p>\n

I tried to dislodge his hand from the door. \u201cDo you know how many power tools I could buy for $250?\u201d I shot back.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I do,\u201d he answered, pressing his arm more firmly against the post. \u201cBut you can\u2019t wear a Skil Saw on a date. Not that many women are impressed by that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okay, okay.<\/p>\n

He took the sweater off the mannequin, held it up against my chest, and swiveled me around to look in the full-length mirror. The garment was indeed sassy. No cordless drill has ever done me such justice.<\/p>\n

But facts were facts \u201cIt\u2019s just too expensive,\u201d I pleaded. \u201cI really can\u2019t justify paying this much for a sweater.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looked me in the eye with that look I had gotten to know, the one that meant he was not kidding around. Then he told me with utter authority, \u201cI say you\u2019re worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t thinking about the sweater that way. You buy stuff because you need it. If you have the money, you get it. If you don\u2019t, you leave it. That was my shopping formula. At least since I got serious about paying off my credit card bills.<\/p>\n

He called the salesman over. \u201cLooks mighty good to me . . .Don\u2019t you agree?\u201d asked Mr. Everit.<\/p>\n

The fellow smiled and nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut . . .\u201d I began to object.<\/p>\n

\u201cI say you\u2019re worth it,\u201d he repeated. \u201cI say you\u2019re worth having anything you love.\u201d<\/p>\n

His message was starting to get to me. For a moment I thought he was going to buy the sweater for me; I could see in his eyes that he was tempted. But I think he was trying to teach me a lesson I could learn only by doing it myself.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything you buy is a statement of what you believe you\u2019re worth,\u201d he told me. \u201cPeople who love and believe in themselves give themselves what makes them happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

I kept staring at the sweater. It sure did look good.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, when you put it like that . . .\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll take it,\u201d he ordered the salesman.<\/p>\n

What I learned from Mr. Everit:<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more fun to watch people enjoying themselves than to try to force them to do what I think they should do.<\/p>\n

Everything I purchase (and do) is a statement of what I believe I am worth.<\/p>\n

I am worth having anything I love.<\/p>\n

Other stuff he said:<\/p>\n

If it\u2019s not a \u201cHell, yes!\u201d it\u2019s a \u201cHell, no!\u201d<\/p>\n

Give yourself abundant pleasure, so that you may have abundant pleasure to give others. (Neale Donald Walsch)<\/p>\n

You are not a beggar at the table of life. You are the honored guest. (Emmanuel)<\/p>\n

What I did:<\/p>\n

Wore my new sweater to work.<\/p>\n

Gave away the clothes I once bought because they were cheap, yet hated every time I wore them because the reminded me I am poor.<\/p>\n

Went through my credit card statement and considered every purchase an investment in myself.<\/p>\n

Alan Cohen is the author of many popular inspirational books, including the best-selling The Dragon Doesn\u2019t Live Here Anymore<\/i> and the award-winning A Deep Breath of Life<\/i>. Alan offers online prosperity courses and the life-transforming Mastery Training in Maui<\/i>. For information on these programs and a free catalog of Alan’s books, tapes, and seminars, phone 1-800-568-3079, visit www.alancohen.com, email info@alancohen.com, or write P.O. Box 835, Haiku, HI 96708<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You cannot always judge a person\u2019s values by his material possessions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,9,12,11],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[951],"class_list":["post-3228","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging","category-mental-health-emotional-issues","category-spirituality-religion-beliefs","category-wellness"],"authors":[{"term_id":951,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"alan-cohen","display_name":"Alan Cohen","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3228"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4420,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3228\/revisions\/4420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3228"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3228"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3228"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3228"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}