For What It's Worth

There was an expert watchmaker whose son was about to get married. To help with wedding preparations, he asked his boss for an extended period off work. Of course, his boss, reluctant to let his best watchmaker go for so long, requested that he make just one last watch before he left. The watchmaker agreed but it was obvious right from the start that even though his body was there, his mind sure wasn't. Sometimes when his colleagues called to him to go out for some lunch during their break time he would jump a little as if rudely awakened from a dream, shake his head slightly then blink blearily at them. And the watch that he was making was turning out nothing like the watches he normally produced. The straps weren't as brightly polished, and the tiny bits of machinery that ticked diligently behind the scenes to keep the watch running weren't very well put together at all, at times stopping completely. As he began testing the watch's ergonomics, one could already tell his head was already deeply immersed in seating plans, wedding invite designs and templates, the menu and decorations.
Finally he finished up and brought the watch to his boss. The boss accepted the watch, examined it carefully with his eyepiece and frowned slightly. Then he handed it back to the watchmaker, smiling wryly as he spoke these words:
"Here's your watch back. This was to be my wedding gift to your son."

We carelessly live our lives, stitching together random pieces that may or may not fit properly like a patchwork of random colors and shapes. Sometimes right in that crucial moment we don't give our best. We don't tell ourselves we have to because it doesn't seem worth it at that point. But is anything ever not worth it?

Why don't you go home today and imagine you were that watchmaker. Before you go to sleep tonight tell yourself tomorrow morning you will change from the inside out, not just make an oath you know you will not be able to keep. Tell yourself tomorrow morning that today as I'm fitting every little screw or gear inside I want to make sure it fits just perfectly, just right, so my life runs like clockwork and my heart will always feel more like a muscle and less like a bone because I won't let it harden and I won't let it be broken. Because my life I myself am a single creation, a handmade DIY craft. And maybe that's why those things can cost so much. Because you are worth so much.