Even been asked what your core values really are?
Was it by some hippy who thought your aura was more purple than blue which indicated that you saw more than you told, but only if you were in the vibration to accept what you saw and own it truthfully in your soul?
It probably wasn’t them, actually. They’d let you just be with who you are right now, telling you that you’ll learn the lessons about yourself that need to be learned when they can be seen and learned for the lessons that they are. Or will be. Or was. Or whatever time space continuum point we might be aligning too... (Which is true, people really do work like that. But sometimes it just sounds like jargon and gobbledegook when it’s said like that…)
Anyway, back to core values.
There was a post I wrote a while ago about standards, beliefs and values, talking about a way to discover more about who you are and what you want if you pay attention to how you feel and what you think when those standards are breached or messed with. And there was another one about superheroes and gods and stories and things like that, that were clues to the things you valued without necessarily knowing it. But when you realise it, you think to yourself “I already knew that. I just didn’t know I knew. So, I knew? But now I know. Right? Sounds weird when I say it like that…”
When you are asked what your core values are, you may not consciously know what those things are, but you do know. Its just that our ego is busy running the show, trying to convince us that the center of the universe is happening in the being that is you. But that’s another post…
It’s why you feel bad when you call someone a cotton headed ninny muggins, or something equally offensive, even though you know deep down they’re not.
Because maybe, one of your core values is truth (or honesty, or loyalty, or integrity), and you just told a lie that momentarily made you unaligned with what you believe in, and believe of you.
Because maybe, one of your core values is love (or care, or service, or compassion) and you just did the opposite for this person on the receiving end of your vile tongue, and by extension did the opposite for yourself.
On the other hand, maybe one of your core values is justice (Because you’re Batman. Which is awesome.) and the person who you called that horrific slur needed to appreciate what it is to be called something reprehensible, because they have been doing it a LOT to everyone in the staff room just because they haven’t chosen to not drink coffee any more, and the smell and lack of caffeine is driving said deserver of justice to acts of vitriolic name calling. Maybe not quite as bad as cotton headed ninny muggins, but make up for it with volume instead…
Either way, the feelings, thoughts and actions that we have in response to the world within us and outside of us, tell a lot about what we think of ourselves and the world around us.
So, what ARE your core values?
Why are they a thing?
Why is that where your line in the sand is when it comes to that kind of behaviour, by you or towards you?
Have you paid enough attention yet? Or are you still sorting through the Hows and Whys to get to the Whats?
Either way, keep chipping away. Because it can show you HUGE amounts about yourself, and by extension, what really matters to you. in general. And when the chips are down.
But that then brings me to my real point (finally…) about my long-winded musings today.
Your core values are the lens by which you perceive yourself. And your actions. And your value. And you place in the world. And the other people in it. And, if you get sucked into it, how you measure up to those people in it.
For example, my core values are truth, freedom, care and mastery.
Truth, because to me it is clarity, honesty, self-awareness, ownership and strength from vulnerability. Self-reflection, to be honest with how I use my freedom, be transparent with my care, and direct my mastery.
Freedom, because it means I decide on my terms how I want to do things in my life, how I want to feel, the space and opportunity to live my values, to live and behave how I believe is right. To treat people with care how I believe is right.
Care, because it gives purpose to living truth, and the freedom to care in my way. Care for myself, because everything I do matters to me. Care for others, because being truthful tells me it is just not all about me. That other people could use help and understanding and love through truth and learning their own self-mastery in that.
And mastery, because mastery of self and my actions means I always get to choose how I live up to my values. Progressively master myself by telling myself the truth and caring enough to live up to that truth. And live freely in that.
In case it comes up for anyone, Meagan…, I am aware they are a bit circular. Fine, okay, maybe a LOT circular. Personally, I think that’s the point. Why have values that are central to you as a human if they aren’t going to support and be in turn supported by the other things that make you You?
My sign off from each blog says a lot about my values.
Be kind (care), be smart (truth), be your best you (mastery). No bar fights (freedom. By staying out of jail, anyway…)
If they makes sense to you that one is integral to the other, then you probably wont find yourself at odds with yourself and what you feel about a situation?
Well, mostly anyway.
There’s always SOMETHING though, isn’t there?...
And this is why those values matter in a different way. If they are lens by which you judge yourself and your actions, they are also the standard by which you judge others.
How’s that working out for most people?...
And yes, we all judge. Everyone. All the time. About everything. Forever.
That doesn’t mean you need to take people failing to live up to your standards personally though. But sometimes maybe it does.
For myself, with mastery of self, I get the freedom to choose if I want to tell my truth to a person I care about, regarding what they’ve chosen to do. But I also have the mastery of myself to be truthful with myself to use the care I have for this person to leave them free of my standards.
The point is, I get to choose. But I need to be truthful and free and caring and masterful with myself to make that choice.
And then pay attention to the feelings that come along with choice I make to see if I am happy with the choice I could, or already have, made.
Sorry guys, it still comes down to paying attention.
So, do it. PAY ATTENTION!!!
Those are my core values. You will have different ones. I hope you do. Bit boring otherwise…
Living up to your values, to me, looks like a great way to be happy with yourself, within yourself. And that’s is how anything genuinely great starts.
Be kind, be smart, be your best you. No bar fights.
“Core values serve as a lighthouse when the fog of life seems to leave you wandering in circles”
J Loren Norris
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