All too often, you hear the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover”. But the concept of getting to know someone before making assumptions, is one that today’s society finds difficult to follow. And it’s engaging ourselves in these stereotypes, that we are not truly seeing the worth of every person.

With all the pre-conceived notions about age, culture, religion and social class; we are judging the worth of others on these factors alone, without seeing the full picture. But we are not in a position to judge whether our life is “worth” more than others.

A doctor may earn more than a rubbish collector, but his/her life doesn’t necessarily have more value. Being a person of worth is more than how old you are, what nationality you are, what religion you follow, or the sort of occupation that you are in. It is about realising that EVERY life makes a valuable contribution to society.

And I believe when you are able to understand that you ARE worth something, you will feel your opinion IS worth something too. When I was attending the workshop sessions for my daughter’s behavioural problems, I noticed something. I am a lot more vocal about my opinion than I was when I was younger. And I realised that as I was growing up, I never felt like I was worth very much to others. And that led me to believe that my opinion wasn’t worth very much either.

But I believe that EVERY life has worth, EVERY life has value, EVERY life can make a difference. Don’t let the more “educated” people or the “richer” people affect the way you see yourself. Remember that you all have a purpose, you all have your own gifts, you all want to change the world in your own way. You are ALL worth something.

Thuy Le (formerly known as Thuy Yau) is a freelance writer and Youth Work graduate living in Perth, Australia. She loves to share her own personal experiences about overcoming adversity, as she believes that human beings are more capable than they realise. She writes to make a positive difference in the world and to inspire others to learn from themselves and their own experiences. Her writing has been discussed on radio, won writing contests, appeared on The Huffington Post UK and major Australian sites such as news.com.au, SMH, Kidspot and Essential Kids. She has just completed her first book – a memoir - and is on the search for a publisher.