I won't lose ME.

"I don't want to gain the whole world, and lose my soul..."

<3 TobyMac

 For my leadership class (aka Theories of the Muggle World) this week, I had to write FIVE values that I live by, define it according to my life, why I live by it, and how I apply it in my everyday life. Easy? I thought so. It took me a whole week pretty much to just figure out values that I live by because I just go on and live my life and I guess I don't think about values except for the Core Values of Saint Leo. I narrowed it down to 5 that I think are dominant in my life and this is what I came up with:

1.     Appreciation is understanding how valuable a person’s actions, words, etc. are. I selected this one because I think it is important to tell people they are doing a good job when they are and recognize the important role they play in your life. I apply it to everyday life by telling people on a regular basis how good of a job they are doing and telling people I really appreciate something they are doing.

2.     Devotion is when, no matter what, I stay focused on my faith and what keeps me balanced. I have selected this because I know when I lose my focus on my faith, the rest of my life doesn’t function correctly. I apply it to life by trying to remember that even when things go wrong, something good will come after. “With every NO, God has a bigger YES.”

3.     Forgiveness is not holding a grudge against someone because of something they have said or done to you. I selected this value because I have a hard time moving on from things sometimes so this reminds me to let things go, especially when they are stupid things. I apply this to everyday life by trying not to hold grudges against people for things they say or do because I don’t know what they are going through. “Let go and Let God.”

4.     Loving All is not putting people down and giving them the love they deserve as a human being. I have selected this value to live by because I think the most important thing in life almost is letting people know that they are loved. I apply this to my everyday life by telling people when I love them so they know that they are important and trying not to look at people in a negative way because I do not know their back story.

5.     Unity is pulling people together instead of pulling them apart. I chose this as a value that I live by because I hate seeing people left out, so I like to pull people together as a family or group of friends. I apply this to everyday life by supporting greek unity on campus, building up the teams I am on the best I can and trying to make people more comfortable with each other. “Be comfortable with the uncomfortable.”

 

I encourage everyone to do something like this so you know what values you find important so you don't end up just doing you and not thinking about what is important in the end. 

Peace and Love,

Erica Jean