Letting my mind, body and spirit be nurtured outside in nature every single day; walking, biking, and in summer, swimming.
I so deeply love and appreciate all of the natural world around us.
I feel I was probably unkind today in a txt message but I needed to express a value (Respect) and not tolerate the behavior. I needed to “nip it in the bud” !!
These days, i offered something where I was untrue to myself, which was not even my business, just to be kind. This kind of kindness needs to change in order to be true to myself, as I am towards others.
I took some time to reflect on this intriguing question. In the end…the first thing that immediately came to me is where I finally landed.
My core value is kindness.
I’m reminded of the Dalai Lama who, when questioned about his religion said simply “My religion is kindness”. Kindness as a religion rings so true to me. But there is a caveat…to extend that kindness to myself as well as others, which Emmaleah has touched upon. I’m remembering too the Lovingkindness Meditation, which instructs us to first give the blessing to ourselves, then to others that we love, and finally to those who have wounded us (the ultimate kindness and widening of our circle of compassion)
“May I be filled with loving kindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy”
I will do my best to embody kindness, especially to myself and to my family. This is a challenge for me daily as I work to undermine lifelong habits of judgement and hostility towards myself and towards some members of my (somewhat dysfunctional) family. I strive to grow and learn each day, but I often get stuck in old patterns of thinking and doing. Perhaps today I will get back into my meditation routine in an attempt to bring more mindfulness into my interactions with others.
Emmaleah…thank you for sharing. I also need to extend kindness to myself for my mistakes, foibles and stumbles. I have a tendency to be my own worst critic. And coming from a more-than-somewhat dysfunctional upbringing….I am mindful that I need to extend kindness to my wounded, broken family. It’s a journey!
As others have said, my values are present every day. Which ones I call on most will depend on what happens.
This question made me think of a recent workshop in a meeting of my agency’s senior managers. The speaker, Dr. Sarah Webb (https://colorismhealing.com/), led us in exercises to reflect on our individual values and then on what regular activities in our personal or professional life reflect those values. This was the starting point for reflection on our attitudes toward ourselves and others and where those arose from–what messages we’ve received over the years about who we are and who others are, and boy, are some of those “othering” messages pernicious.
We worked through her IRIS model: individual, relational, institutional, societal/systemic. In my work I’m always seeking to extend my values for institutional and systemic change in the direction of a more expansive world of justice, opportunity and safety for all, and a sustainable future for life on Earth. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to find a role that lets me live my values all the time.
Of courses, as I go about my day, I will
embody kindness, but I will attempt to
extend this to people I disagree with and
those that I otherwise wouldn’t normally
even notice. Maybe even extend kindness
to myself. Now there a novel idea.
My most deeply held value at this point in my life is willingness. I share a quote from Pema Chodron that always reminds me what it means to be openhearted, to be willing today and every day. She speaks of wholeheartedly living in a brokenhearted world.
“The ego wants resolution, wants to control impermanence, wants something secure and certain to hold on to. It freezes what is actually fluid, it grasps at what is in motion, it tries to escape the beautiful truth of the fully alive nature of everything. As a result, we feel dissatisfied, haunted, threatened. We spend much of our time in a cage created by our own fear of discomfort.”
Source: Welcoming the Unwelcome…Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World by Pema Chödrön, page 32–33
This question warranted a review of my core values. I am grateful for them and all the folks that helped mature them. I embody them by living them out daily and let them rule my actions.
I hope that I embody my values each day….but perhaps I go on my merry way and do not really think of it. However; that is the beauty of it…I do not have to think of the values that I live…they are part of me. My values are me.
I strive to be a good steward of our place. It was not farmed for 14 years prior to our purchase 25 years ago. One of those values is to keep noxious weeds under control. They rob precious moisture from the soil, crowd out beneficial plants and most generally deprive domestic animals and wildlife of nutrition for many are not eaten and some can poison. The list is many, tumble weed (Russian thistle) knap weed, mouse ear, pig weed, hoary cress, cheat grass, Canadian thistle, sticky weed, western pepper weed, to name a few. I do admire one thing about them though, their ability to do the one thing all life does……propagate…… albeit with proficiency. They emerge at different times of the growing season, some from seed others from runner roots. Just add a little water and presto their off to the races. If only beneficials were so tenacious. I use many methods, most commonly pulling ones that have made flowers before the seed can be viable and spot spraying others with herbicide. Both are time consuming, but I have so many less than in 1998. Spot spraying sticky weed was on my agenda for this morning so the question is timely.
I have an alarm set on my phone for 0645 every day of the week… “Be Kind” is the label. Today I will be kind to myself. I won’t interact with many other people today so hopefully I can focus on my heart and soul as I prepare to return to school next week.
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Letting my mind, body and spirit be nurtured outside in nature every single day; walking, biking, and in summer, swimming.
I so deeply love and appreciate all of the natural world around us.
I feel I was probably unkind today in a txt message but I needed to express a value (Respect) and not tolerate the behavior. I needed to “nip it in the bud” !!
These days, i offered something where I was untrue to myself, which was not even my business, just to be kind. This kind of kindness needs to change in order to be true to myself, as I am towards others.
I took some time to reflect on this intriguing question. In the end…the first thing that immediately came to me is where I finally landed.
My core value is kindness.
I’m reminded of the Dalai Lama who, when questioned about his religion said simply “My religion is kindness”. Kindness as a religion rings so true to me. But there is a caveat…to extend that kindness to myself as well as others, which Emmaleah has touched upon. I’m remembering too the Lovingkindness Meditation, which instructs us to first give the blessing to ourselves, then to others that we love, and finally to those who have wounded us (the ultimate kindness and widening of our circle of compassion)
“May I be filled with loving kindness
May I be well
May I be peaceful and at ease
May I be happy”
I will do my best to embody kindness, especially to myself and to my family. This is a challenge for me daily as I work to undermine lifelong habits of judgement and hostility towards myself and towards some members of my (somewhat dysfunctional) family. I strive to grow and learn each day, but I often get stuck in old patterns of thinking and doing. Perhaps today I will get back into my meditation routine in an attempt to bring more mindfulness into my interactions with others.
Emmaleah…thank you for sharing. I also need to extend kindness to myself for my mistakes, foibles and stumbles. I have a tendency to be my own worst critic. And coming from a more-than-somewhat dysfunctional upbringing….I am mindful that I need to extend kindness to my wounded, broken family. It’s a journey!
It certainly IS a journey. I wish you luck today & I’m sending you kindness from afar. 😊
And to you as well Emmaleah.
As others have said, my values are present every day. Which ones I call on most will depend on what happens.
This question made me think of a recent workshop in a meeting of my agency’s senior managers. The speaker, Dr. Sarah Webb (https://colorismhealing.com/), led us in exercises to reflect on our individual values and then on what regular activities in our personal or professional life reflect those values. This was the starting point for reflection on our attitudes toward ourselves and others and where those arose from–what messages we’ve received over the years about who we are and who others are, and boy, are some of those “othering” messages pernicious.
We worked through her IRIS model: individual, relational, institutional, societal/systemic. In my work I’m always seeking to extend my values for institutional and systemic change in the direction of a more expansive world of justice, opportunity and safety for all, and a sustainable future for life on Earth. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to find a role that lets me live my values all the time.
Of courses, as I go about my day, I will
embody kindness, but I will attempt to
extend this to people I disagree with and
those that I otherwise wouldn’t normally
even notice. Maybe even extend kindness
to myself. Now there a novel idea.
My most deeply held value at this point in my life is willingness. I share a quote from Pema Chodron that always reminds me what it means to be openhearted, to be willing today and every day. She speaks of wholeheartedly living in a brokenhearted world.
“The ego wants resolution, wants to control impermanence, wants something secure and certain to hold on to. It freezes what is actually fluid, it grasps at what is in motion, it tries to escape the beautiful truth of the fully alive nature of everything. As a result, we feel dissatisfied, haunted, threatened. We spend much of our time in a cage created by our own fear of discomfort.”
Source: Welcoming the Unwelcome…Wholehearted Living in a Brokenhearted World by Pema Chödrön, page 32–33
Thank you Carol. One to add to my notebook for further pondering.
I really value health so I will stick to my eating plan and get in 45 min of exercise.
Humility – I will listen, learn, and seek guidance at every opportunity, being grateful, not expectant for all that I am able to do.
This question warranted a review of my core values. I am grateful for them and all the folks that helped mature them. I embody them by living them out daily and let them rule my actions.
I pray that I embody my values each and every day. Today I will just be me and trust the process.
I hope that I embody my values each day….but perhaps I go on my merry way and do not really think of it. However; that is the beauty of it…I do not have to think of the values that I live…they are part of me. My values are me.
I strive to be a good steward of our place. It was not farmed for 14 years prior to our purchase 25 years ago. One of those values is to keep noxious weeds under control. They rob precious moisture from the soil, crowd out beneficial plants and most generally deprive domestic animals and wildlife of nutrition for many are not eaten and some can poison. The list is many, tumble weed (Russian thistle) knap weed, mouse ear, pig weed, hoary cress, cheat grass, Canadian thistle, sticky weed, western pepper weed, to name a few. I do admire one thing about them though, their ability to do the one thing all life does……propagate…… albeit with proficiency. They emerge at different times of the growing season, some from seed others from runner roots. Just add a little water and presto their off to the races. If only beneficials were so tenacious. I use many methods, most commonly pulling ones that have made flowers before the seed can be viable and spot spraying others with herbicide. Both are time consuming, but I have so many less than in 1998. Spot spraying sticky weed was on my agenda for this morning so the question is timely.
It teaches us a lot about balance, hey?
That it does Don.
I have an alarm set on my phone for 0645 every day of the week… “Be Kind” is the label. Today I will be kind to myself. I won’t interact with many other people today so hopefully I can focus on my heart and soul as I prepare to return to school next week.