The Psychology of Value

Value, thy name is Integrity.

***

To have Value is
to be recognized
for positive traits.

Plenty of things
may be recognized
and even admired,
but to be understood
as essentially "good"
is to know that there
is Value to be found
within, some intention
that doesn't just fall
to the floor, left
behind because it
ought to be left behind.

The trouble with Value
is that people don't
often seek what's good
for them, but rather what
they're comfortable with,
what they can identify,
and only come around
to Value as a last resort,
when some figure in whom
they've placed Value
has in turn stumbled on it,
and I say stumble because
by its nature, by Value
being of a positive
persuasion, people will
actively avoid it, even
those in whom Value
has been noted. People
don't like good because
they see only the bad
around them, and almost
instinctively root out the
good. That's people
for you, born with
an inability to accept
Value because Value
is too obvious, too good,
to be trusted, because
trust is not something
that is very often rewarded.

The Psychology of Trust
is actually more complicated
than Value, because Trust
is a Value more suspect
than Value itself, but
to be found with Integrity
is to have circumvented
the whole frail process,
and isn’t that something?