I think worth as a concept is really over-rated, to be honest!
I think we all, as human beings, have an inherent amount of worth that doesn't need to be proved or quantified, to ourselves or to anyone else.
When you see sick and starving children in Africa on a tv commercial with the voiceover asking for donations, do you think to yourself, 'Well, are these kids good kids? If I give them money, will they prove themselves worth of it and grow up to be productive members of society? I'm not going to donate if they don't prove to me that they are respectful to their elders, and do their fair share of work around the village. Are they worthy of my help?' Of course not. You see a child lacking the essentials of life and your desire is to help them.
It's an old cliche, but you will always find someone better than you and you will always find someone worse than you. If you constantly compare yourself to your betters, what are you actually achieving by that? You're giving yourself a twisted view of your place in the world. A more realistic assessment is to say, 'Okay, I'm not the best at that, but I'm also not the worst.'
If someone gives you a compliment, they are not saying that you are the best at that, they are simply acknowledging that you are good at it. Acknowledge the compliment with a thank you, allow yourself a moment or two's pleasure at the compliment, then get on with what you're doing. A compliment is not an order to prove yourself worthy of it. It's a gift, not a contract.
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