Aloha Lola, your post reminds me of a simple fact. That fact? Money (pay, paychecks, stocks, bonds, investments, et. al.) will never compensate for time.

Period.

When we ponder the miracle of life, living and the ingrediants we say creates a life worth living (love, passion, mission, profession, vocation, ikigai) at what point will the 'ah-ha' happen that we MUST evolve past financial payments as a primary reflection of one’s worth.

What financial price would a mother pay to cure a sick child?

What financial price would you pay a teenager to spend three hours of their life to do some menial task - a task you could do yourself - but choose not to.

Is my time more or less valuable than any one else's time? No. Period.

I'm lucky enough to both know who I am and why I'm here. My calling - to be of service - the rewards from serving far exceed what students, clients, patients pay. Pay is icing on the cake. Pay as cake — is the myth. Pay in the form of money, attention, respect, sense of purpose et. al. fabricate layers to a myth we’ve adopted, adored and replicated for centuries.

That myth? Life comes at a price. As long as we uphold said myth the price we pay is always too high.