“Make a list of the things you value most. Then embody them.” Those two sentences leapt out at me when I read them. What seems to be missing there is the “how.” How do you align the values and the living from those priorities. At our request, our insurance company will send an annual graphic showing the percentage of what we spent money on when we used our credit card. Usually the percentages are about what I expect. Yet there is a lingering discomfort. How representative are those numbers of the things I most value? That is of course but one means of measurement. In my heart of hearts, on what do I most want to spend my time, money, energy? And if certain measurements don’t reflect my values, what am I letting get in the way of accomplishing that embodiment?
For example: At one time there was a plan put forth in Tennessee to provide health insurance for an additional 280,000 uncovered Tennessee residents. I value my health insurance. I want all people to have adequate healthcare. I believe a country needs healthy citizens who can contribute to the nation’s work force; healthy parents who can care for their children; children who are healthy enough to make the best use of educational opportunities. So I wrote letters to the editor in support of the plan. I marched. I visited my representative in Nashville. And in the end, I was very discouraged, and I allowed that disappointment to disrupt my continued efforts. I know that I am capable of persistence, something I’ve neglected, to which I can choose to devote more time and energy on behalf of those things I value.
This brings me to an article I discovered by James Clear. He describes making an annual Integrity Report on himself. This would seem to be a worthy goal. I accept the challenge!
May we be bearers of hope, the “wait staff” of Hope’s Café for each other and all those we encounter. Shalom, Kate
Hope’s Café Bonus: a note of caution, as one considers one’s values and how to best live them out: “Life is a series of seasons, and what works in one season may not work in the next. What season are you in right now? What habits does that season require?” — James Clear
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