A few weeks ago, I
gave my students an assignment where they had to research values and list their
top 5. I thought it would be fun to give it a try. It was a challenge to narrow
my own down to 5 and think it might be beneficial for you to spend some time
figuring out what your values are to use as a compass for your life.
Values to me are what
you believe are important ways of living your life. Different religions put
different levels of importance on certain values. For example, sacrifice,
contribution and fidelity might be more common in religious circles than say
the local union for librarians (Do librarians have unions? Imagine falling in
love in a library? Who is the most famous librarian?).
Are there such a
thing as wrong values? That sounds like too deep of a topic for what I’m trying
to accomplish here but give it some thought. I think with most people sitting
at home lately, this might be a good time to evaluate all the positives and
less positive people, things, or values in your life and see if some areas are
in need of a spring cleaning. Feel free to guess what you think might be in my
top 5 or send the list to a partner and try and guess theirs. Here is the
values list that I used:
In no particular
order, here are what I believe to be my 5 core values.
Kindness
This is 100% due to
my mom being a devout kindness disciple. I once asked her what her favourite
quote was and she responded, “Be kind.” While it lacks a certain flare, she is
right. The entire world could use more kindness. It’s easy not to be kind but
it’s a great philosophy. Be kind.
Simplicity
I don’t have a
complicated life. I don’t have many possessions. Do you know how many bowls I
own? One. How many plates? One. How many spoons? One. How many chopsticks? One.
That last one is just a little Asian humour for you all. You’re welcome. I
don’t believe life is as complicated as people make it seem. Don’t like your
job? Get a new one. Don’t like your husband? Get a new one. Have too much
stuff? Get rid of it. Spend too much money? Spend less. Too big? Exercise more.
Humans like to make excuses, enjoy drama and complicate needlessly complicate
our lives. If that’s your thing then drama is a value that works for you but
I’m a simple man with simple tastes. I just need to make sure that simplicity
involves Thailand once every few years.
Honesty
One of the worst
things you can be called is a liar. Do you want people to not believe things
you tell them?
“Honey, Bert called
and he said he can’t make it because he sprained his ankle playing dodgeball.”
“Pfff. I doubt it. I
don’t trust that guy. He’s a liar.”
These types of
conversations happen every day, all over the world. If you are OK with people
not fully believing what you say or trusting you completely then you should
keep on saying things that are not true. This is why people dislike politicians
so much. Telling the truth is hard and uncomfortable but is a sign of respect.
People are tougher than you think and can handle the truth. This essay helped
me fully grasp that almost any type of lie is not worth it.
Gratitude
I’m surprised it has
taken me this long to insert a quote. Let’s make it a good one.
“Do not spoil what
you have by desiring what you do not have. Remember that what you now have was
once among the things you only hoped for.”
Epicurus.
This might be a hard
time to get grateful depending on how 2020 has unfolded for you but there are almost
always things to be grateful for.
It’s normal to want
things we don’t have or think that if we just have this one person, object,
place, possession, everything would finally be OK. The faster we realize that
this thing doesn’t exist, the faster we can enjoy the moment. It’s important to
me to be grateful for my health, my family, being Canadian, a native English
speaker with Maybelline eyelashes because my life would be much harder without
these things. Even being grateful for having clean water coming out of your
tap, a roof over your head and clothes to wear is a great start that millions
of people do not have.
Adventure
Now I’m not
completely sold on this value. This might be a value of my past. Adventure and
travel have definitely been a core value since 2011 but it might be taking a
backseat this decade. I get bored easily and like exploring new places so
adventure will always have a place in my heart but I feel that this value might
not be as integral to who I am moving forward.
Values that just
missed the cut
Boldness
I wish I was more
bold. I wish that I acted more boldly in day-to-day life. I think living boldly
is a trait that I admire but I don’t live this value enough for it to be a part
of my 5. Embrace boldness is great advice.
Dependability
Nobody really depends
on me for anything. Once I get more responsibility in my life, I hope that this
value becomes more prevalent. If you tell people you are going to do something,
do it. Dependability kind of crosses over with honesty a bit. One day people
will depend on me but that day is not any time soon so this value will be put
on hold for now.
Curiosity
Curiosity is one of
the reasons I left home. What’s X place like? Let’s go find out. What’s in that
forest? Let’s go look. You don’t need to travel to be curious. Just this week I
looked up information on glaciers, soil, difference between a virus and
bacteria, and America’s President’s approval rating because life is filled with
interesting things to learn. If curiosity isn’t a top 5, I understand but to
not have any curiosity at all is puzzling to me.
Figuring out your
values is a good way to get a snapshot on what you find important in your life
and if you need to incorporate a few new and different values into your life.
Personally, none of my values fell under the Achievement headline. I should be
more ambitious and focused on developing more professionally. Additionally, intelligence
and health are both areas I need to focus more on in the future.
I hope figuring out
your values gives you some clarity moving forward. Goodbye and good luck.
"Gratitude
turns what we have into enough"
Aesop
A better read to
understanding your values:
