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What you say is too general. I want to see them written down.
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I know someone who appears to have great values but at the same time wants 1/2 of the US population to be sent to a reeducation camp. For political reasons. You know...like a gulag/labor camp.
Other than a fondness for labor camps, what other values does this person have that you think are great? What does it mean?
Sorry for saying this but I think writing down values that one should have is useless. No matter what they write down, how they live, behave, interact with others expresses their values.
But one can write down what they need to change in their behavior in order to live a good life. That is still not a value, or the value simply is happiness. Would happiness be a value?
Other than a fondness for labor camps, what other values does this person have that you think are great? What does it mean?
Sorry for saying this but I think writing down values that one should have is useless. No matter what they write down, how they live, behave, interact with others expresses their values.
But one can write down what they need to change in their behavior in order to live a good life. That is still not a value, or the value simply is happiness. Would happiness be a value?
It means that someone genuinely kind, at service for others, generous etc, can be manipulated into believing that deporting 1/2 of a country's population (based on their political affiliation) can solve all the problems.
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The rest of your comment is not on the subject. I don't care about what other people need to change. It is their business. Nor about what is considered a value or what is not - for them.
All this has been on my mind. And I think ... on other people's minds, people that I know or even strangers. I can hear their conversations, read it in e-mails etc. These people want to more clearly define their purpose.
The questions are:
What are your values?
What do you hold dear?
What are your vital priorities?
How can you use these priorities to design a more meaningful life? A more happy and fulfilling life.
Thanks.
Like you, I've seen these questions presented over the decades. My views have evolved over time. At this stage in my life, things seem a lot more simple.
I see your first three questions as all the same thing. My answer: kindness, truth, and fairness.
Your last question has no meaning for me. A more meaningful life? Our life is its meaning. Whether we are happy or fulfilled is a state of mind that we control. If one lives a self-directed life, and uses the opportunities to our best ability and advantage, we will find disappointments -- but our life is still our life. I cannot speak for one who has lived a life determined by others. I did not take that path.
It means that someone genuinely kind, at service for others, generous etc, can be manipulated into believing that deporting 1/2 of a country's population (based on their political affiliation) can solve all the problems.
... The rest of your comment is not on the subject. I don't care about what other people need to change. It is their business. Nor about what is considered a value or what is not - for them.
Yes, I agree. I did not understand the exact connection to the topic. This is for a discussion of the values we hold, not the values we would like and want changed (in ourselves or others). I find the topic to be an appropriate one for discussion; if one should not see it that way then simply not reply (and it is good to try to set the topic on focus again--of course many times it can trail off into discussions about something else, though often related).
Yes, I agree. I did not understand the exact connection to the topic. This is for a discussion of the values we hold, not the values we would like and want changed (in ourselves or others). I find the topic to be an appropriate one for discussion; if one should not see it that way then simply not reply (and it is good to try to set the topic on focus again--of course many times it can trail off into discussions about something else, though often related).
Ok, here it goes. Values and beliefs are related. If i believe money buys me love, and happiness, then i will value money. My life will be centered on making a lot of money. If on the other hand if I believe money is not the most important thing in life, in fact it cause stress and worry and takes away my happiness, i may believe it is love that begets love. To be loved i need to be loving will be my value.
So value is expressed in our behavior, how we conduct our life. It is belief that guides value.
So the list should be beliefs. Value will follow.
The topic is life, value, and meaning. I have covered two of the 3, as well as the third, if not explicit.
I find the post above ,on the other hand has not, addressed the topic at all.
I agree, let us stay on topic.
The questions are:
What are your values?
What do you hold dear?
What are your vital priorities?
How can you use these priorities to design a more meaningful life? A more happy and fulfilling life. Thanks.
In a nut shell, the answer I find is found in Jesus' New Commandment found at John 13:34-35 (self-sacrificing love )
It was vital to Jesus to have and show self-sacrificing love for others.
In other words, Jesus placed self-sacrificing love above the old Golden Rule of Lev. 19:18
To now love and put others MORE than self, more than to love neighbor as self.
Loving neighbor more than self makes for a more meaningful life with the happy hope of Jeremiah 29:11
All this has been on my mind. And I think ... on other people's minds, people that I know or even strangers. I can hear their conversations, read it in e-mails etc. These people want to more clearly define their purpose.
The questions are:
What are your values?
What do you hold dear?
What are your vital priorities?
How can you use these priorities to design a more meaningful life? A more happy and fulfilling life.
Thanks.
These are incredibly difficult questions to answer. Not because the answer isn't clear but because, as someone else pointed out, explaining it all would be a literal book, not a forum post. All I can do is give the barest of descriptions and hope it's enough. Maybe some will even see me as a human being and not an evil baby-eating atheist who has no moral compass. Ah, but I wish ...
My values do not differ much from the GOOD teachings of Jesus (not everything he taught was good). I do believe in the "golden rule" and I wish more people put it into practice. I value equality. I value fairness. I value honesty. I value freedom. I value the ability to make my own choices. I value knowledge and education. I value liberalism and democracy. I value friendship and camaraderie. I value family - but I cannot say I value ALL of my relatives. I value thousands of little things that many, I'm certain, take for granted. To be honest, I have lost enough in life thus far to truly appreciate the things I value - and to miss them with a keen, sharp-edged longing when I lose them. There are so many things I value and treasure even when I, myself, do not possess them.
What I hold dear is essentially a parallel road to what I value. They are not two different things. Thus I hold dear the things I value - and I value the things I hold dear. I cannot separate the two.
I'm not sure how to define "vital" in this context. Vital for survival? Vital for happiness? Vital for stability? Vital for the people I care about? Unfortunately I'm not sure in which direction to take my answer. So I'll simpy say this:
Explaining my priorities in a way that would be understandable to anyone else would take far too long with too much back story that only a close friend would be interested in hearing about anyway. So that's that.
To that last question ... I have no answer. At one time I had a very rich and rewarding life - at a very early age, I knew what I wanted from life. I knew what would make me happy; I knew - and still know - what would make life fulfilling.
Unfortunately, it would seem I cannot have those things. If I knew how to create a happy and fulfilling life from the answers garnered from the first few questions, I would have done so a long time ago. I only wish society gave people the freedom to take their lives in a different direction than the usual "marriage and children" route.
And while the police won't be kicking down my door and arresting me for being single and childless, society has its own ways of punishing non-conformity.
Now that I think about it, I'm not even sure why I bothered posting. I thought I could answer these questions in a more informative way. But I can't - at least - not without the necessary preamble to explain why I think the way I do. Because I am not "normal" by the parameters society has created for those who live within it.
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