This weekend my grandma celebrated her 75 birthday. 

When asked how she felt about reaching the milestone birthday, she humorously expressed that she is officially three-fourths of a century old and worth much more than she was at the previous age of 74. 

While her words were meant to be light-hearted and hold a joking, whimsical tone, I immediately felt they held much more meaning than what she simply felt they would express. To me, they were not merely a joke, though they did pull laughter from my family seated around her rectangular dining room table. 

By turning just one year older, my grandma suddenly perceived herself to be more worthy and holding more knowledge and wisdom than she ever had before. But why was this her apparent perception? 

It is nearly impossible to change one’s worth in the short time of just one day. Jumping from one age to another is simply an expression of time and growth and not a definition of one’s worth and internal quality.

Throughout time, there has been a belief that as something or someone ages, they are worth more than they were in their younger, jubilant days of life. While in some cases this may be true, I grasp ahold of the thought that humans and people are always of their greatest value at that given time of their life. 

On the day that you are born, there is no exact value is assigned to your name. You create your worth through your actions, goals, and dreams. Although your life may completely change throughout the course of a year, your worth is still the same for you decide the quality and value you wish your life to have.

While wisdom collects like coins in a purse, your worth is not forced to change upon the entrance of a new year.  The stigma around age seems to be inescapable. How you feel is your value—not the number of years you have lived or the number of days until your final breath. 

Though your worth may never be able to be expressed, it is something that only you need to know about yourself. As those around you have already made you question your life’s value, allowing them to influence it further can only cause the cliche belief to tighten its grip on your mind. 

As I listened to the words flow off of my grandmother’s tongue with ease and excitement, I grabbed ahold of each word, remembering the deeper meaning behind her lesson in disguise.