Be it engaging with your true inner beauty or coming to terms with your vitiligo, your personal values are reflected in every aspect of your life. Think of values as roots of a tree. A tree, with its strong roots, supports the ecosystem around it. Likewise, an individual with strong values grows, learns, and creates, living life beyond vitiligo.
When so many negative emotions compete for your attention, having a toolbox to see the life above and beyond vitiligo is essential. In this 5-minute-read, you will learn how can you identify and live your values.
What is a ‘Value’?
Many of us may think that values are morals or ethics. They’re not. Values are what is significant to us, what we value, and what gives us a sense of purpose. Values are what an individual stands for, representing that individual’s unique, individual essence.
Everyone’s values are unique to him/her. Even if two people happen to pick the same value, each person can employ it differently in their daily lives.
When you don’t know your values, encountering many personal questions can become a major source of stress and internal conflict. When you are done with bringing your values into action, living with vitiligo would feel like a blessing, not a Burdon.
Discovering your values
Values aren’t something you create. They’re something to be discovered. Being present and fully aware in the moment is the first step to discovering your values. A 10-minute dose of daily meditation can bring your mind to a state of awareness.
Study your obsession(s). This can give you clues about your values. If all you care about is your work, then one of your core values can be “perseverance”. If you love taking care of those around you, maybe one of your values is “compassion”.
If you still find it tricky to identify your values, revisit your life’s mission (your purpose).
Establishing a strong value system
Define what a certain value means to you. To me, innovation means thinking outside the box, being open to new ideas. For you, it may stand for something else. Pick all values from the list that you have identified as important to you.
Once you are done with listing your values, rate each value on a relevancy scale of 1 to 10, with 10 remaining the highest. Here, your aim should be getting a score of 7 or higher on average. If you score below 7, you are not optimally living that value.
I personally recommend keeping your unique core values to the magic number of 5. Having too many values will confuse you rather than guiding you. If you value everything, you value nothing.
To keep values in front and center of your mind, have a visual reminder of your values. This is where your creativity will help you. Get a screensaver created or find a picture that represents each of 5 values. Furthermore, you can listen to a song that represents one or more of your values.
Using your values as a toolkit
Identifying my core values helped me know the kind of people to be with and even the type of people I want to avoid. By identifying and living your values, you too will be able to lay the foundation for a grounded and confident life, keeping all vitiligo worries at bay. While navigating complex emotions, these values will act as a tool to guide you.
As your purpose of life changes, your values can change too. Therefore, keeping in touch with your values is a lifelong exercise. You should continuously revisit them, especially when you start feeling unbalanced and you can’t quite figure out why.
