#48 Values
I was shopping for a new sweatshirt last week and in order to avoid paying for delivery I added an extra item to my basket that was only a bit more than the delivery charge (look, it makes sense in my head).
I put the pin on my work lanyard. It’s a bit bigger than I realised but that’s not necessity a bad thing!
I’d never really thought of kindness being a superpower, but it is definitely one of my core values and how I try to show up in the world. I don’t always manage it of course, and sometimes my kind intent doesn’t land as I hope, or is misdirected, but I keep trying.
There is a lot of value in knowing what your values are (see what I did there?!) and trying to act in alignment with them. Sometimes when things feel off, a conversation, a relationship, a meeting, it’s because our or someone else’s behaviour is out of kilter with our values.
Dr Brené Brown has a great worksheet with accompanying podcast episode if you want to dig in to your own values. I identified kindness as one of my core values because for me it covers a lot of things which I feel are important. The list below is a random collection of the sorts of things I treat as coming under the banner of kindness.
Saying please and thank you and generally being polite.
Not talking shit about people behind their back.
Offering to help when others are struggling.
Buying thoughtful gifts.
Keeping commitments.
Recycling (I can be kind to the planet as well people).
I think values can shift throughout our lives, I’m pretty sure my shifted when you were born but they probably don’t change all that dramatically. So the next time you’re in the mood for some introspection, maybe have a think about your values.