‘Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?’ said Alice
‘That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,’ said the Cat.
‘I don’t much care where–’ said Alice.
‘Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,’ said the Cat.
So it seems, therefore, that one must have both a set of values and a vision. Perhaps they are to be developed together from some single entity - maybe a sort of spiritual driving force.
We spent a while brainstorming values and I came up with a personal list that looked something like this:
- integrity
- intimacy & family
- child like wonder
- something from nothing
- growth
Integrity
Things like honesty and being true. Building up trust rather than lying, practicing what you preach, not being a hypocrite. All that jazz. In the last few months I feel like I’m winning a battle with this. Not because I’m becoming a saint but simply because I’m changing how I perceive the world around me, by being more honest in my conversations and by no longer preaching things I don’t personally believe or uphold. It’s a starting point…
Intimacy and Family
This is a particularly interesting one which leads into definitions of family and conversations about the state taking on many previously familial roles. For this value, family is both blood relatives and anyone with which you are building intimate relationships with. For me this includes my church community, the people I live with, those I work with and romantic relationships. Intimacy is the sort of friendship based on a love that is happy to be sacrificial in nature - much like the love discussed in 1 Corinthians 13.
Child like wonder
It is important to never lose sense of being a child. Only yesterday did I run up an escalator the wrong way in a Leicester Square cinema and spend much of my afternoon in the arcade in County Hall. Last week I had a kids birthday party, for me. Not that you have to do silly things to be a child, but it is that sense that anything is possible and there is much more in the world that we don’t understand. In addition there is security in knowing that we are safe in our parents hands - whether that is our real parents, surrogate parents or a heavenly parent. It is an attitude to life.
Something from nothing
Creativity is free. Everyone has it but not everyone makes use of it so much in this massively consumer driven secular world. At the same time there seems to be a fairly stark correlation between those that enjoy life and those that are often creating something from nothing, or value adding to something they already have. Whether that is baking a cake, painting a picture or writing a blog. There is something utterly magical in that creative process that makes people feel a million dollars. By definition it is not commercial or consumerism - in fact it seems like an antidote to these things.
Growth
Moving forward, making decisions, learning from mistakes, talking to wise people and through all of these becoming wiser yourself. For me this is understanding important things in my mind and then trying to push these things down into my heart or soul. Obviously part of this process is intellectual and part of it is getting out there and practicing what the intellect deems to be a good idea. It is a cyclic process and one that is a continuous process. Above all it is best done with others who can help you learn much faster through the whole process (and maybe help you make fewer mistakes).
This list was put together in the last couple of hours so is far from perfect. However it sums up some of my thought processes over the last year so is far better than it would have been twelve months back. I’d be interested in hearing your thoughts.