Values By Which I Conduct My Life

Thursday, Ocotber 12, 2006

The abundance of rhetoric with respect to values grows wearisome as we approach the midterm elections. The war in Iraq, the erosion of Constitutional authority, the continuous litany of prevarication and obfuscation we hear from our elected officials...the Foley scandal, the Abramhof scandal, various and sundry additional scandals...I begin to wonder what values people hold to and how they validate their actions. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have decided to examine the values that I, personally, try to live by.

Personal responsibility. I am accountable for my own actions. When we borrow Harry Truman's phrase "The buck stops here", that does not imply any ifs ands or buts. "The buck stops here", period. This is the only way for that phrase to have any kind of sensible meaning.

There are no substitutes for honesty and integrity. The concept of a sacred trust is irreplaceable and the ability to be truthful can never be underestimated.

We are all human beings and we make mistakes...own up to them. I find it nearly impossible to believe that any amongst us can truly state that they have never erred, nor that they are incapable of error. In fact, it is my contention that any person who makes such a claim is not to be trusted...with money, with government, nor with anybody's personal safety.

The Golden Rule. I try to treat others the way I would like to be treated. This is not always possible in societies comprised of large populations, but that does not mean we should not continue to try and live our lives by this standard. When we adopt this way of thinking, we are generally amicable to compromise, we tend towards tolerance and we are less rigid in our manner of thinking. We are less prone to insist that our way is either the right way or the only way. The case is that usually neither of these statements is true.

Life is too short to________. I have learned that to live one's life with regret is NOT a laudable path to pursue. It tends towards bitterness and a sour disposition and does not lend itself to a sense of fulfillment or accomplishment. We can prioritize the things in life that are most important and try to incorporate them into our lives. Granted, there will always remain things we were unable to do, but we have a general and intuitive grasp of what we really want to do and what we can let pass us by.

We must care about more than just ourselves. This does not imply that "I am my brother's keeper"; rather, the point is that we do not live our lives in isolation and there are times that each and every one of us finds her or himself in a situation of need. When those times arise, we would be lost without the assistance and care of families and communities. The expression "There but for the grace of God" is certainly applicable and relevant and none of us should be so haughty as to believe that she or he will never need anyone's help. Karma has a way of stepping in given such recalcitrant mindsets.

Ralph Niebuhr's "Serenity Prayer"..."God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; the courage to change the things I can; and the wisdom to know the difference." These are extremely sage words and I try to always remember them when I am confronted with a dilemna. They need no further explication as I feel the intent is self evident.

Do the best I can. That is the highest standard I can set for myself and I need never be discouraged if I keep true to this goal. I may fall short but I can always persist.

Utilize the power of visualiztions. We all have the power to effectively make the lives we want for ourselves. I try not to sell myself short of the possibilities that reside within my dreams.

The value of the people in our lives far exceeds the value of money or stuff. A sense of perspective is necessary to achieve such a sensibility. When we are ready to take the next step in our journey, we are remembered most for the kind of person we were, not for how much moeny we made nor how much stuff we accumulated.

Respect for all sentient lives and for Mother Nature. Again, I try to keep a sense of perspective and not take for granted the beauty and grandeur we have been blessed with on Planet Earth by the Great Spirit.


These few values keep me humble, keep me ever striving, and keep me in harmony.

trickster108