“I am just a piece of paper. But have never seen a dustbin in my life”, says money. True to these words, money is respected all over the world. It has become the ultimate element every human vies for. What makes this mere paper speak volumes about itself? Answer is simple, because it is not easily earned. People have the tendency to not realize the worth of anything easily earned or available. You enjoy a meal more when you have worked hard for it, rather than sitting on a couch the whole day and enjoying every meal on time. Three instances of different domain are discussed to support this fact.

Cometh August and everyone would be lining up to the ticket counters for the upcoming La Liga season. For starters, La Liga (football) is the strongest league in Europe over the past five years. It is one of the most popular professional sports leagues in the world, with an average attendance of 28,286 for league matches in the 2009–10 season. This is the sixth-highest of any domestic professional sports league in the world and the third-highest of any professional association football league in Europe, behind the German Bundesliga and English Premier League. It is contested by 20 teams and 3 teams at the bottom of the table are relegated whereas the team that tops the table after an almost 10 month turmoil and hardship is termed the champions. Seems strenuous? It is as it seems. A professional team to be emerged winners has to do something out of box, serious herculean tasks and tedious workouts. And it is sweeter when you are at the winning end. This victory, though, wouldn’t have been as sweeter without the struggle that is undergone. This thus is an evidence of the fact that anything hard earned is precious and valued.

The holy trip to Mecca, is a dream pilgrimage of every Muslim. Muslims all over the world go to Mecca to perform Hajj the fifth principle of Islam. It is not surprising to hear it is the most respected and tenacious journey, requires whole hearted participation even well before the actual journey starts. The 13 day rites go as follows. One should say two Rakat Nafl (supererogatory) prayers before leaving home for Hajj. When one reaches Miqat (any one of the appointed places in Mecca where pilgrims make a vow of pilgrimage) one must perform ablution or take a bath, use perfume, and put on two clean, unstitched, preferably white, pieces of cloth. This pair of clothing is called Ihram. One sheet should be wrapped around the lower part of the body and the other sheet around the upper body; the head should not be covered. Women can perform pilgrimage in the cloths they are wearing. Under normal circumstances a woman’s face should not be covered unless she comes face to face with a stranger and she has to conceal herself. During the five days of Hajj, all Muslims engaged in this worship must remain in this same simple dress. The other duties to be discharged are entering Masjid-el-Haram to perform Tawaaf, Running between Safa and Marwah, arriving at Mina and Arafat on the 8^th and the 9^th days respectively, finally returning to Mecca after sacrifice and haircut. This is a 13 day schedule and very strictly followed by every visitor. And as a result, this exhausting and enervating campaign is followed, celebrated, and worshipped.

There is no introduction needed for the prestigious Oscars for no one is alien to it. For a film to be nominated for the Oscars, it has to run in the renowned Orange County at California for a minimum of four weeks. Only after that a film is certified for an Oscar nomination. Once the movie has entered the nominees list, it is shortlisted by an elite panel of jury members. Following this, the voting starts and people are asked to vote their favourite film and almost for all categories. And after this voting ends, the movies are shortlisted which again is screened for further pruning of the selected list. One movie, that tops after all these nominations are elected as the best. This pretty much sums up why an Oscar nomination is coveted.

These instances from the real life domain depict the value a thing receives when it is struggled for. It is now an irony that we value only the things that we struggle for. But, doesn’t this sound quite sarcastic? Is it a compulsion everything has to be hard earned? Well, it is not the case. We do not have a guarantee everything is achieved through a struggle. There are times when we are lucky enough to obtain something rather easily. We must be ready to give it the same respect that a struggle-and-earn thing gets.