My Values
I haven't posted anything here in a long time. That's because I've been extremely busy over the last few months. But I'm hoping to change that very soon. I've been developing a framework to enable me to easily publish here once every two weeks. And I intend to be consistent in the future.
For the time being, please enjoy this brief article that I originally wrote as an entry for a competition earlier this year in June. Please let me know what you think about the subject once you've finished reading it.
Growing up in a typical African household, the moral values of honesty, humility, respect and charity were drilled into me. Sometimes forcibly with the proverbial rod and other times with a soft tone, an older family member sitting me down and lovingly explaining why a particular virtue was important and had to be upheld, even in difficult situations.
Over the past two decades of my short life, I have held some of these values dear while adopting some new ones of my own. These values of mine were not inherited, but were rather adopted by me after facing the harsh realities of life and a whole lot of learning, unlearning and relearning.
My values are an extension of myself, my worldview. They define the sort of person I want to be, and I am working towards being. I would be the first to admit, they are sometimes hard to uphold. But when I do uphold them, I am the best version of me; therefore, I strive to live up to them. Not only for myself, but also for the sake of the world I hope to help improve in my own little way.
Over the years, I have discovered some criteria through which I judge the virtues I value. These criteria help me decide if a value is good or bad and potentially harmful.
The first one is that they must matter more than my feelings. My values must be bigger than me, than my ego and emotions. They have to be things I can consider getting hurt for upholding.
The virtues I value must be constructive, help enhance my life and others’ in the long-term. They must not be harmful either to myself or those around me.
My values should be things I can control, a way of life I can try living up to. As much as it is tempting to adopt unattainable values, I do not want to adopt values that end up controlling me. This is not to mean that my values are to be wishy-washy, but that they should be actions within my control. A way of life I can strive to live up to.
One of my principal values is openness. I believe in being open to new experiences, perspectives and opinions regarding important issues. “Strong opinions, loosely held”, as Naval would say. No one is perfect, neither is any man an island. There are always new things to be learnt everyday. Even from the most unlikely people and situations.
A world where everyone is open to viewing dicey concepts from their neighbour’s perspective is a world where peace will reign. This is because empathy and tolerance come about only as a result of the ability to see the world through the lens of others.
Creativity is also a virtue that I strongly value. It is closely tied to the virtue of openness. Creativity involves looking at a problem through a new lens and being open enough to try solving it in a new and sometimes radically different way. It takes an individual with an open mind to think creatively. A rigid person is anything but creative.
If the world were full of creative thinkers and open minds, most issues of ethnic, religious and racial intolerance would be non-existent. Most societal problems like poverty, environmental degradation, and world hunger would be attacked with gusto by people willing to try unconventional methods to solve Earth’s most pressing issues.
The value of self-discipline is one of the most important lessons I learnt growing up. The ability to hold oneself to a standard, to demand more from oneself, to closely monitor one’s thoughts, actions and words. This ability is necessary to live a life void of moral and spiritual decadence.
Self-discipline stops you from dipping into the government treasury and looting funds. Self-discipline prevents you from taking actions you would later regret taking in the heat of the moment. It helps you pause in your tracks and rethink when something which is not yours starts getting enticing.
Can you imagine a world where the majority live by these values?
I can. Because I know it begins with me.
Thank you for taking time out to read this. I appreciate the gift of your time.
Now I leave you with the question, “What criteria do you use in choosing the virtues you value?”
I look forward to reading your response in the comment section…
Have a great week ahead! 👋🏽