Day 5 - Values

Today's task was a GREAT challenge! 

This one was fairly easy for me because whilst I had never named them, the values I hold dearest are very clear to me and came easily when I had that pen and paper ready. Ordering them however, that took some thought as they are all incredibly important to me – the order has changed somewhat over the past hour or so, so I suspect it may change again!

However, as they stand now, here is the order, and my personal definitions.

1. Passion – having a zest for living, having a meaning/purpose, is all encompassing, the very reason for life.

2. Excellence – having high standards/goals and striving to meet them, seeking the good/positive in everyone/everything and building on it, NEVER settling for less.

3. Courage – being true to yourself, making the tough decisions, standing up for beliefs, knowing that “easy” is sometimes actually “more difficult” in the long term.

4. Creativity – embracing life the way you want, experiencing every sight, sound, taste, touch, scent; being unique and individual; defining beauty and joy in your own special way.

5. Loyalty – knowing who is important and being there for them as they are for you, appreciating those who are positive forces in your life.

Interestingly, most of these became blatantly obvious and even more dear to me when my ex-husband and I ended our marriage.

As an extra part to the challenge, we were asked to rate where we stood on these values at this point in our lives and what we could do to improve.

1. Passion - 3/10 - taking part in this challenge has made some of my passions more clear, so I am figuring that by simply taking part, and taking action towards achieving some of my goals, my passion rating will increase.

2. Excellence - 6/10 - I think the only thing holding this back from being higher is the fact that I haven't acted on my passions.  I do feel like I strive for excellence in everything I do, but know that until I am living my passions, I won't be truly "excellent".

3. Courage - 8/10 - the past 6 years have shown me how much courage I really do have.  I am much stronger and more courageous than I ever thought possible, and despite others having difficulty with my courage at times, I have not looked back since embracing it.

4. Creativity - 4/10 - this is low because whilst I am definitely an individual and more than willing to live my own life, I don't feel like I've been fully expressing and enjoying life to its full creative merit.  As I start to embrace my passions, I know this will skyrocket!

5. Loyalty - 8/10 - again, I feel like I am doing well in this area because I have learned very much who is important to me, and those I am important to.  Loyalty is something that I have never struggled with - my very nature is to be loyal and expect it in return.

hmmm I'd been thinking about renaming my blog so that it was more true to me and my whole life, rather than just the three reasons I started it... I now have an idea!