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A few years ago, my grandparents moved to Farmville. While packing up their belongings at their old house, my grandma gifted me her beautiful and large collection of American Fostoria glassware which previously lived in a China cabinet in their hall.

I spent an afternoon carefully wrapping up the delicate plates, glasses and other items and packing them into boxes, and as I did so my grandma told me that she wanted me to actually use the set. She wanted me to drink from the cups, eat off the plates and most certainly serve punch at parties in the giant, ornate punch bowl.

Last August, my boyfriend and I were moving into a new house. He came home to find my sister and I polishing the Fostoria and placing it in the dish cabinets. The collection filled most of the shelves.

At first, my boyfriend protested. There was hardly any room for any other dishes.

When I told him we wouldn’t need many other plates, he responded with an understandable question.

“Do you plan on just eating off of crystal plates every day?”

“Honey,” I responded, “Am I not worth eating off of crystal every day?”

The discussion obviously ended there, but I don’t think many others ask themselves that question of whether or not they’re worth the best of the best.

In a 2018 Ted Talk, speaker Gillian Dunn told the crowd she was once gifted a really beautiful candle. The candle felt so special that she couldn’t bring herself to burn it on any regular day. She stored it away in a closet and waited until she finally had something to celebrate months later, and by the time she was ready to burn the candle she opened the closet to find it had melted into a sad little blob.

I have a question for you. Why aren’t you worth eating off of crystal every day? Why don’t you burn the nice candle on a regular old Tuesday night? Why is there a dress in your closet that requires a special occasion to wear even though you hardly ever go somewhere fancy?

Your answer might be money. Certainly, most of us can’t afford to drink the fanciest wine every weekend. We drink the Barefoot or the Sutter Homes, which honestly tastes fine, and we wait for the right night to uncork the really good stuff.

But the right night never comes, just like the right occasion to wear that dress never comes.

The candle never gets burned. The fancy glassware collects dust in the China cabinet.

Could it be that maybe you think the person you are on an average day isn’t worth it? Are you not special enough to wear that nice watch? How come there are “good” towels in your bathroom that only guests get to use?

I’m not saying don’t be frugal or live a life of excess. If you treat yourself every Friday with a milkshake on your way home from work, don’t start buying a milkshake on your drive home every day of the week. That’s not a good idea. But you can have a milkshake on Wednesday instead. You don’t need to order the steak every time you go out, but it doesn’t have to be a special event for you to get one.

Let me tell you something. There is nothing in this world that you are not good enough for.

Do not save your favorite chocolate in the box for last. Eat it first because you may not last long enough to make it to the last piece. Dry your hands on the good towels, burn the pretty candles, drink the fancy wine if you’ve got it, and even if you don’t have the fancy stuff, drink the cheap wine out of the crystal glass.

You’re worth it.

Alexa Massey is a staff reporter for The Charlotte Gazette and Farmville Newsmedia LLC. Her email address is Alexa.Massey@TheCharlotteGazette.com.