virgin islands scene

If you have a job without aggravations, you don't have a job.
-- Malcolm Forbes
 

 

Friday, May 15, 2026

Enduring value

In the push to maximize efficiency, personal interaction often gets minimized or eliminated altogether. Though there are plenty of rational reasons behind that approach, it can often be a false economy.

When your connections with others are mediated by a pre-programmed system, a valuable dimension is lost. Hyper-efficient transactions don’t form the basis for deep, enduring relationships.

If you could have everything you ever wanted, but would never have another genuine person in your life, would you take that deal? Hopefully not, yet that sometimes seems to be the way the world is headed.

Fortunately, your world does not have to go that way. Although affordability, speed, and convenience do matter, you can choose to value the other people in your life even more.

Look for opportunities to treat people you encounter as the unique, worthwhile individuals they are. Refuse to be dealt with as an anonymous data point, and avoid seeing anyone else that way.

The things that can be measured and endlessly optimized are unlikely to bring much richness to your life. Instead, prioritize people, authentic experience, positive presence, and value that endures far beyond the moment.

— Ralph Marston

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