“A value isn’t a value unless you’re willing to pay a price to uphold it”
Values are the things we care about most in life, they are the things that keep us headed in the right direction much like the tracks steer a train. Common values include; love, family, honesty, fairness, freedom, tolerance, responsibility, respect for life, accountability, achievement, duty, justice, empathy, humour, integrity, humility, obedience, patience, self confidence, wisdom, independence, serenity, creativity, generosity, loyalty, safety, dignity, service and generosity.
Amidst the Chaos all around us, values allow us to see what is most important and to pursue these things in our lives.
Martin Luther King Jr. pointed to this when he said,
“If you haven’t found something you are willing to die for,
you are not fit to live.”
We don’t see values though – what we see is actions and through others actions we then determine what their values are.
Values form the foundations of character. Without solid values we stand on shaky ground.
The crucial moments of our lives come not when we are faced with the choice between right and wrong but with the choice between right and right. Should we tell the truth and confess to the teacher that our best mate just hit them in the back of the head with a paper jet? Or should we lie to protect him?
Should we work back to meet a project deadline and miss our daughters school play or leave work early and risk losing the job?
Should we stand up for a stranger in the street who is being harassed by youths and risk being harassed ourselves or cower in the corner trying not to make eye contact for fear of the consequences?
Right versus right.
The defining moments of our lives are those times when we are forced to choose what values we will uphold. It is these times that define our character and shape our personal legend of who we are.
Shared values form the underpinnings of culture. We are unlikely to continue a friendship or relationship unless we have shared values.
So, what have been the defining moments in your life?
The times when you have been forced to pay a price to uphold what you thought was most important?
What price did you pay and what benefit did you gain?
What did that tell you about the Values that are most important in your life?
How has this affected your life since?
What story do you tell yourself about who you are because of these events?