Understanding that my values shape who I am, I have a responsibility to myself to be intentional about the values that I absorb and keep. This is the path of freedom. The freedom to choose.
Like an invisible hand, my values help me navigate life. They are often subtle, operating beneath my consciousness and quietly pulling the strings it feels.
When I first started to meditate, I became curious about myself in a way that I had not known previously. I became introspective, from which, changes began to flow. How I saw the world and showed up in the world began to change in ways I was becoming conscious of. These changes stemmed from taking a moment to pause and to inquire about the values that had been guiding me through life thus far.
In this inquiry, one at a time, I picked up each value or belief, looked at it closely, and asked myself if I still believed it to be true. I wanted to really know, from deep inside myself, what I believed and to not be afraid to challenge a belief simply because I had once believed it or have only known to believe it.
If the answer was yes, then I would put it back in its place, with a smile on my face.
If the answer was no, I would place it aside, and no longer let it take me for a ride.
If the answer was ‘I don’t know’, I would not lament, but experiment.
These experiments involved sometimes taking the opposite extreme of a value. For example, I used to believe that ‘more is more’ when it came to consumerism. I experimented then with ‘less is more and adopted an extreme minimalist approach. This experiment, one of many, helped me understand what I now believe to be true. This inquiry of my values has not stopped to this day and will continue through my entire journey.