One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.
Whether he meant them to be or not, when my father-in-law threw these items into the box at the back of his closet they took on new meaning. Did he ever think that one day I would go through the box and wonder?
For I did wonder at these treasures.
Why had he kept them? What meaning did they hold? What did they tell me about this man I loved and admired?
And so I examined Malcolm’s treasures.
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.” – Paulo Coelho
They spoke to me of a life of curiousity and passion, a life of many and varied interests. They spoke to me of values.
– A key whose lock may never be known.
– Images of heroes long gone.
– Pins, nametags, cuff links, so many odds and ends.
As I wondered about him, it lead me to wondering about you.
What do you value in your life?
When I ask this question I often hear answers that focus on external circumstances, but your values are internal and the source of a life well lived.
Values are who you are; not who you’d like to be or who you think you should be.
They’re who you are and not to be messed with.
So let’s begin an experiment.
For the next seven days, ask yourself the following questions and notice what comes up for you.
1. How did I honour my values today?
2. Were any of my values violated – whether I violated them or someone else did?
If so, what were they and how can I choose more wisely tomorrow?
3. What’s the learning from this exercise?
4. How specifically will this help me move forward?
Now imagine your life, day by day, becoming more fully aligned with what’s important to you.
My father-in-law lived his life this way; it’s what made him so extraordinary.
“Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him.” – Paulo Coelho
It’s not necessarily an easy way to live; it takes courage to walk this path.
But it’s so worth the effort.
Hmm. The courage to examine our lives and continuously hold ourselves accountable. Dare we try?
I don’t know of a more fulfilling way to live life!
It was not until recently that I realized that I have been living my father’s life. To put it in the frame of your post, I was living his values, what’s important to him and what made him feel good about himself! I loved my father so much, that I adopted his value. Sounds familiar?
Values are not abstract concepts. They become alive when they are attached to an emotional state that leaves us deeply fulfilled. It wasn’t until I learned to explore: “What has been important for me to FEEL in my life?” that I finally started living MY life.
It is familiar Mazen and I know for myself, I’m drawn to people with similar values. It’s why my father-in-law’s death had such a profound impact on me. Could be another question to ask, “How does this value make me feel?”
Thank you for planting this seed of thought in my head today. I will now explore my values this week.
This is fascinating as I’m currently visiting my dad in Oklahoma who has a penchant for “stuff” – I used to think he was just a packrat, but as he goes into a story behind each piece I understand more how many use things as reminders as to who we really are.
I love how you said that! They may still be just things, but they can act as strong anchors to events and people, times in our lives that are meaningful. So love any conversation to do with values 🙂
Possessions. I have been thinking about this quite a bit recently. So much of what I own is currently locked up in storage. Most of it are things that I don’t miss, but I am not sure if that is because the property we are in now came with things or if I just don’t care.
I know what you mean. Those things don’t matter to me as much either which I realized when I travelled for a year. What I missed most in that time were my books and art, which again speak of my values.
If you think of a drawer of stuff you save without conscious awareness, it’d probably say quite a bit about you. Like my father-in-law’s stuff spoke to me.