If ever there was a time to clarify your values, it’s now.
Dr John Demartini has a useful way of determining what you value. He says, “When you live according to your lower values you require continuous outside motivation and you suppress your genius. When you live according to your highest values you become inspired and awaken genius.”
If you’re used to basing your activities and communication on what other people expect of you, it can be challenging to express your greatest values. It takes courage to make that shift in a culture that tends to favour conformism.
In my personal experience, I’ve felt quite clumsy at times when I was establishing my own values. I was moving away from what I perceived that other people wanted or needed from me. Sometimes my communication was rough and my energy was uncomfortable as I practised finding me. I made many mistakes and hurt people. There were apologies at times, and sometimes I struggled even to do that.
But over time, I discovered how to prioritise and share what’s valuable to me. Now it gives me strength and a way to handle challenges. Time and time again I come back to my core values so I can find my direction in any situation.
When people in a community have clear values they can express their opinions and listen to each other with safety and respect. They can negotiate solutions to problems without blame and victimisation. They can take the time that is appropriate for each challenge, reacting with speed when necessary and more slowly for bigger and more demanding issues. And each individual can find their natural role within the community.
When your core values feel threatened, it’s time to get clearer and stronger. What you value determines how you spend your time, energy and money. What we value collectively determines how we educate ourselves, how we arrange our economy and how we live in society. It’s important.
Building the muscle to live in alignment with your values is an essential step if you want to contribute to a society that is expressing higher values than are currently prevalent.
