Money is the commodity of exchange and money can go a long way in getting you the things that you want and need. People work for money and will honor your wishes in order to obtain it. But when it comes to respect and friendship this can’t be purchased with money. It has to be earned the old fashioned way.
People respect people who have values. People respect people who are consistent. Values are what lasting friendships are made of and we usually like people who have our values. Those are the people that we are attracted to.
Most of us have good and bad values. It depends a lot on how we were brought up. We are always testing our values as we would like them to serve us in the most beneficial way. Sometimes we find that our values are misdirected and not effective in helping us through the twists and turns of daily living.
We can learn better values by trial and error and also by observing people who display compassionate good values. They have human values as well as material values.
Values have everything to do with our ethics. Ethics are our internal workings. They are manifested in everything that we do. No one can tell you what your ethics should be but they define your life in a major way. Your ethics are between you and your God.
Remember that we get old too soon and smart too late. Whatever actions we take always have consequences.