Goals of Value

What are the most important things to remember in life? Everyone has to decide the things that are important to them. We also have to decide what to use our energy for. I think one way to focus our energy is to be able to remember what is important.

Well duh!

But it is important and we sometimes overlook that point. We often hear the “guru's” tell us to write out our goals, create wish lists, develop vision boards and most recently, make movies or power point presentations of what we want. But these are just the outward expressions of our dreams, the hope of the physical manifestation of our hopes. What about our values and our moral character, wouldn't it be a good thing to make a character wish list? Every day we could look at the person we want to become and the good we want to leave behind. Create a vision of the hope of the physical manifestation of our spiritual hopes. Marshall Field made such a list:

“Things to remember:
1) The worth of character;
2) The improvement of talent;
3) The influence of example;
4) The joy of origination;
5) The dignity of simplicity;
6) The success of perseverance.”

Many of us read the Bible or other spiritual literature to focus on the higher spirit and goals of our belief. That’s great! We have some values that we would not even know how to leave behind even if we wanted to. But it seems that I can always see some point where I am lacking the conviction that I feel that I should have in some value. And looking at something that would remind me every day would probably be a good thing to do. It could be a good way to focus on the values we want to live by When we focus energy on anything it becomes a part of our “reality”, it may even become part of us, so focusing on the values we want to become is a most important part of the spiritual path.

I will express one caution here, don’t write in the things you want to leave behind, as that may cause the focus to be on the negative aspect. For instance instead of “I need to stop making things so complex and difficult” say, “ I am living in the dignity of simplicity” Also just because a value is ingrained it does not have to be left off the list, after all we still need to live it!

Lets go live a moral and good life and show the world what we truly are.