This particular value truly changed the way I related to myself and others. Every morning, I would journal for a bit and clarify how I could show compassion to myself and others that day. In the night, I would journal about how I put the value into practice.
There was a clear change in the way I behaved and talked to others. It was harder to monitor self-talk and I found myself slipping up as the day wore on. But just the fact that I’d set an intention in the morning helped a lot. I found that I was uncovering the various facets of compassion. Every value has shades and nuance to it and it was interesting to focus on a different way of practicing compassion toward myself and others every day.
Value for week #9
All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
The value for this week is experimentation. This is one of those values I desperately need to embrace but keep putting off because I know it will be uncomfortable. One of my biggest reasons for wanting to make this value a part of my identity is that I’d like to start viewing life as a series of experiments. Too often, I become rather precious about everything and don’t move fast enough, take enough risks, or just take action. This has been costing me dearly and I’d like to change that.
This value will help me lean into new experiences and trying different approaches. I’d like to view life as a massive buffet of experiments and see my role as being there to taste as many delicacies as I can. That will help me live a bolder, deeper, richer life.
So how will I practice this value each day? I intend to keep it at the back of my mind and at the end of every day, write down how I pushed myself to experiment. It could be with anything and in any area of my life. It’s more of a mindset shift that I’m looking to create than doing any specific external actions.