A Preface...
In order to maintain a successful balance of career and happiness, one must first establish a core set of virtues and values in his or her own life. To accomplish this, one has to dig deeper than the literature they read. Exposure in the social realm is vital in creating the observation necessary to see the true street values. These values or virtues can not be pulled from a Bible or other literature of esoteric nature alone to be understood - they must be introduced through experience before they can become relevant in one's life. Something to remember is that it is impossible to choose a belief - beliefs can only be accepted or denied.
A Values Statement...
My life is a continuum of experiences, some successes and some failures. My values system is what determines the choices I make.
My spiritual beliefs are the most important aspect of my life. Although not a value in and of itself, my spiritual beliefs construct the backbone of my values system. My values system consists of the following components...
Integrity - Integrity is the quality or condition of being whole or undivided, and complete
Integrity encompasses all values as a complete whole. This value is one that is affected by all others. Consistency in our actions in both public and private life is what determines the type of people we will become. For this reason alone, this is the most important value or virtue that anyone can have, and I place it at the top of my list.
Faith - Faith is the confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea or thing.
Logical thinking and material proof are excellent when they are evident, when they are not, however, one is oft left searching. Faith is rather important to me, as I can come to it whenever I need to, and wherever I am. I don't need to worry about trusting my my faith, it is always there, and always true. Faith is what keeps me going when life events come knocking, and my life turns into a downward spiral. When I am confused and lost at , Faith is the lighthouse in the distance - whose light never dims. Fog may come and dim or even block the light with its opaqueness, but that doesn't change the fact that the light is still shining bright. We need Faith - without it, we would all just give up when faced with life's challenges.
Hope - Hope is to look forward with confidence and expectation
Perhaps the most misinterpreted value of all is Hope. Milton said, "He wished, but not with hope." Hope is to desire and expect a future good. People often confuse wishing for something as the same thing as hoping for something. This value has an important place in my life when it comes to an overall optimistic view on myself and the world as a whole. I use Hope to keep myself focused and confident in the future. Hope and Faith go hand in hand as far as my values system is concerned, entirely different - but equally important.
Dignity - Dignity is quality or state of being worthy of esteem or respect.
Self respect is essential in living and maintaining a happy and good life. to be forthright, if you do not respect yourself, you will not respect others. It is my opinion that only a humble person can be truly dignified. A careful self examination of Dignity in one's life is essential. I have to ask myself, is this Dignity or is this conceit?
Humility - Humility is the quality or condition of being humble.
A recent addition to my personal values system is humility. Being humble is rather hard, and yet very, very important. Pride and arrogance can become a consuming fire that virtually eats up our entire life, and the values we strive to live by. Humility is one way of keeping pride under our control. Believe it or not, humbleness can actually turn into pride if one starts to be careless. I try to humble myself in certain areas of my life without actually doing them simply for the act of being humble.
A work in progress...
I would be lying if I said that I didn't have to work on any of my values. I have to work on all of them, and always will. Values and virtues are living entities that we display in our daily lives. We must keep ourselves in check, if we don't - we are destined to fail.
The two most important values that need work in my life are humility and integrity Pride has a way of sneaking up on me without me being aware. Maybe it's in the things I buy, or perhaps simply the words that leave my my mouth. I see all the possessions I have, and take them for granted. If I can become more humble, I can put things in a better perspective and maybe someday give more than I receive. If one value falters, so does Integrity. Integrity is the value that one can never stop improving upon - it means so much, and is quite vast. If I am struggling with any value or values, then I am struggling with Integrity.
A values system is a way of life, which is to be lived day to day. There is no definite beginning or end. What matters most is how we integrate our personal values system into the life we were given.
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