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Today's
Meditation:
The
values that I've developed and adopted over the years have
been one of the most important parts of my life, mostly
because they give me a sense of consistency and stability;
as long as I follow the guidelines that those values provide
me with, I'm able to avoid many of the dilemmas and
stressful situations that make life so stressful for
others. Adopting and developing values is fine, but
the important thing is to stay true to them after we've
claimed them as our own.
Karen
says it well when she says that they "offer us
direction when making choices." Some of my
decisions are so ridiculously easy that I don't even have to
think of them because I'm clear about what my values
are. My values tell me that I need to live ethically
and that I need to treat others with love and compassion;
they tell me that I need to give my all to the work I choose
to do and that I need to be honest and straightforward in my
dealings with others.
They
aren't a crutch for me, and they aren't an excuse for not
doing something that I simply don't want to do. When I
follow their guidelines, life is much easier for me, and the
aftermath of decisions is much clearer and simpler--I know
why I did what I did, and I can be comfortable with
that. The trick, of course, is choosing values that
are authentic and that will affect others in positive,
loving, and compassionate ways. I don't want to adopt
values that will hurt others when I follow them, or that are
wishy-washy and pedestrian. I want my values to make a
statement about my life and about what I want to contribute
to this world.
If
I want peace in my spirit, and if I want to live with honor,
dignity, and courage, then I have what I need to help me to
do so in my values. What those values are is up to me,
and whether I follow them faithfully is up to me, too.
I know in my heart and spirit, though, that following them
can help me to become a person who contributes in very
positive ways to the world I live in and the people I live
with.
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