Have you ever seen how we respond to something free as opposed to something with a price? It's one of the striking features of human behavior; we love free things but we often don't trust them. The simple fact is the moment something is offered for free we start asking ourselves what its worth. People often think "what's the catch?" or "why would anyone give this away for free?"
But turn that same product, service, or opportunity into a price and suddenly it is desirable. People will assume that because something is expensive, it must be real, powerful, scarce, or more impactful. They associate a price with a quality, even if there is no evidence to support it. But this isn't only about buying and selling. It reflects something bigger about how we value, trust, and price.
We now live in a world that has conditioned us to believe that if something doesn't take something from us - money time, effort, then it must be worthless. We value things by what they cost us, not always by their value. But the truth is - nothing is free. Even things called, "free" cost us something - not always money but could be your time, your data, your trust, your emotional investment. There is always a pay off whether we see it or not.
The odd part is, people will run to free things, but are still suspicious. But at the same time admire the things they can't afford. This kind of mindset always create a kind of weird life: We don't want to pay but we only trust what we pay for. You can see this through many instances of life. When someone offers support freely, we question their motives.
When someone offers advice without charging, we often ignore it. But if that same person starts charging, suddenly their advice takes on value. And why? Because we have learned to value cost over just about anything else - not truth, not impact, not sincerity. We also see evidence of this with others.
When relationships are easy and accessible we often take them for granted. Conversely, when relationships require a level of effort or pain, we seem to chase after them harder. We actively pursue what costs us. We ignore what is free to give. So maybe it's not about being free or charged. Maybe the problem is that we don't recognize what is value unless it costs us.
Not everything that's expensive is valuable.
Not everything that is free is worthless.
Wisdom is how to know the difference.
We must learn to see worth beyond the price tags. Some of the most profound and transformative things in life like: kindness, grace, wisdom, peace of mind, or friendship are often offered freely, but that doesn't mean they are cheap. Some of the most profound things in life are the very things we have stopped noticing, simply because they weren't wrapped up with a price.