Thought on "Value" and the Meaning of "Thing"
by: Larissa Kuo
english version
Wow! Do you know that value can be so important? You could be rich IF ONLY you control yourself! It could be your favorite toy, it could be your favorite book, it can also be your family. We’ve learned a lot about value since the start of seventh grade. And till now, we are still evaluating and processing what value means to us in certain ways. I will be summarizing our main reason for value, the correct way to protect the environment, and our experience selling second-hand stuff in Hard-Off.
Our main reason for value to us right now is environmentally friendly. Do we think the world is valuable enough for us? Do you know what the world we are currently is suffering from? from the point of view of normal humans, they don’t think about how our environment is hurt right now. they do things their way instead of thinking about it widely and generally. they throw trash how they want, they litter where they are. These humans aren’t thinking further enough for themselves.
I’ve been asking myself quite often, am I responsible enough to protect the earth? Am I doing things correctly the way they should be? Around my house, there is a lot of stuff that is not necessary to be there. So during the summer of 2021, I and my mom cleaned out all those extra stuff in our house and donated it to kids who needs it. We didn’t trust charities online, so we decided to drive to a local charity event in Zhubei and donate them ourselves. It made every one of my family’s days when we saw those kids smile at all the new clothes and toys they got. We found out we really do have a lot of extra stuff we just keep and do not use, or we buy and never touch it again.
Because of this problem, our class visited a second-hand store called “Hard-Off.” Hard-Off is originally from Japan and they decided to open a few shops in Taiwan. We brought some stuff we think that can be sold to let someone in better needs purchase it. It might not be at such a high price, but doing something nice for someone else is definitely worth it. We saw so much stuff that was still in good shape, and still very valuable till now. But you do find old and worn-out stuff in there, I still wonder why they take those bad shape things in. But after all, if you don’t want to throw away some stuff you don’t need anymore, sell it second-hand for others to purchase.
Do you understand well these three points now? After three months of learning about the environment and value, we still happen to buy stuff that we think looks good but pretty useless. Value can mean something very different for each and every one of us. Some think the value is nothing, so they will keep on doing and buying stuff that they don’t need. But learning about value is a very important thing throughout your whole entire life. You need to try and control yourself to not do think things from your perspective. You should think about what your next idea is before you do something. You need to think further in life about the future. Therefore, do you know well about your own values now?
chinese version
哇！你知道價值如此重要嗎？只要你能控制自己，你就可以變得富有！它可以是你最喜歡的玩具，可以是你最喜歡的書，也可以是你的家人。自七年級開始以來，我們已經學到了很多關於價值的知識。直到現在，我們仍在以某些方式評估和處理價值對我們的意義。
我們現在對我們有價值的主要原因是環保。我們認為這個世界對我們來說足夠有價值嗎？你知道我們現在的世界正遭受著什麼嗎？從一般人的角度來看，他們不會考慮我們現在的環境是如何受到傷害的。他們以自己的方式做事，而不是廣泛且系統地思考。他們隨心所欲地扔垃圾，他們隨地亂扔垃圾。這些人並沒有為自己考慮得更遠。
我經常問自己，我是否有足夠的責任來保護地球？我是否按照應有的方式正確地做事？在我家周圍，有很多不必要的東西。所以在 2021 年夏天，我和我媽媽清理了我們家裡所有多餘的東西，並將其捐贈給需要它的孩子們。我們不相信網上的慈善機構，所以我們決定開車去竹北當地的一個慈善活動，自己捐贈。當我們看到那些孩子對他們得到的所有新衣服和玩具微笑時，這讓我全家的每一天都開心。我們發現我們確實有很多額外的東西我們只是保留著不使用，或者我們買了以後再也不碰它了。
因為這個問題，我們班去了一家叫做“Hard-Off”的二手店。 Hard of 來自日本，他們決定在台灣開幾家店。我們帶來了一些我們認為可以出售的東西，讓有更好需求的人購買。價格可能不會這麼高，但為別人做點好事絕對值得。我們看到了很多仍然完好無損的東西，直到現在仍然非常有價值。但是你確實在那裡發現舊的破舊的東西，我仍然想知道為什麼他們把那些形狀不好的東西放進去。但畢竟，如果你不想扔掉一些你不再需要的東西，那就再賣吧，會有其他人購買的。
在學習了 3 個月的環境和價值之後，我們仍然碰巧購買了我們認為看起來不錯但毫無用處的東西。對於我們每個人來說，價值可能意味著非常不同的東西。有些人認為價值無足輕重，所以他們會繼續做和購買他們不需要的東西。但是學習價值是貫穿你一生的一件非常重要的事情。您需要嘗試控制自己，不要按照自己的方式行事。在你做下一個動作之前，你自己想想。你需要在生活中進一步思考未來。