Do you feel your life is out of control? Does it seem like life keeps throwing you one challenge after another? Do you feel confused and anxious? Don’t despair. Your life will transform when you learn two things: how to live from your values and how to interpret what happens to you.
Identify your values
There is no time like the present to make a change, and to live a life with inspiration and hope. Decide now to take your life into your own hands. Start by getting in touch with what you value. When you know your values you will have a good roadmap that will help you set a clear vision and identify what you need to live a happy, fulfilling life.
Your values, whether or not you have thought about them, guide how you live your life. If you have never been formally introduced to values, they are ideals that are important to you. A value is something that motivates you to move – it is also something that stirs you. For some people, it is money; for others, it is freedom, love, respect, and so on.
It is very important to get in touch with your values because when they are not clear – meaning, if you were asked your top three values you wouldn’t be able to name them with clarity and ease – they could be in conflict and lead to stress.
For example, you are a new parent and one of your top values is being a stay-at-home mom and raising your child. Another important value is your career and earning money. Since they are both strong values and you either work outside the home and take your child to daycare, or you stay at home with your child and let your career sit, there will be that inevitable conflict.
A person, who is not in touch with her values, will probably give up one for the other, feel totally stressed out and not know the reason. However, if she is in touch with her values, she will see the conflict before it arises and find a way around it.
When we are stressed and feel like we are working hard but not getting anywhere, one of the reasons could be that our life is not aligned with our values. If your values are unclear you run the risk of living with conflicting values, or worse still living by other people’s values and leading a stress-filled life.
How to interpret what happens to you
To live is to have challenges. The difference between the person who gets through them with little stress and those who suffer through, or never let go, is how they interpret the challenge.
When presented with a challenge you have a choice. You can think and worry about all that can go wrong and what it’s going to cost you; or, you can ask yourself, “Is there anything I can do about this?” If you answer this question with a “no”, then let it go. Whatever is going to happen, will happen. You can choose to feel good or bad. If the answer is “yes”, do all you can to remedy the situation. When you are working in the direction of positive change, simply immersing yourself in the action will make you feel better.
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