Char: Defining My Values

The past few weeks of my life have been dominated by everyone else. I have been listening and responding. I have been following through (mostly) on duties expected of me by others. I have been making school a priority, but after that comes everyone else. I’ve been a strange version of myself, one I am not keen to continue being. I have been focusing on following through with others so much that I have neglected the things that make me me. My positivity! Smiling! Dedicating time to being creative, relaxing, and spending tme with the people (and animal) that I love! All of the things that sustain me have been neglected. And that is simply not okay! I’m putting my foot down. I’m getting back to the basics.

But first I need to define the basics. By identifying several personal values, I will be able to re-prioritize and be able to go to sleep every night feeling accomplished. But that only comes once I know who I am, and how to stay true to myself. So this is me trying to define myself. 

Charlotte's Road Map to Motivation

Faith. I have faith that things will be okay, I have faith in my students that they can make healthy decisions if they decide that they want to. I have faith that I am doing everything I can to make my last semester in school as meaningful as possible. I know I need to have more faith in myself (some might call this trusting my gut. I would agree.)

 

Creativity. I am creative. I have good unique ideas. When I make time to be artistically creative, I am happy. I want to go take pictures in the fall, spend time editing and adding to my blog, and holy moly I’ve got to get started on my Christmas cards! I know that my ideas are good. I need to act on them.

Curious. I love to read and learn. I need to embrace this for my classes and just do this more. This can also be reinforced by my drive to make sure I’m embracing the last semester of Penn State and State College. Let’s explore! I want to try the new restaurant, I want to read new novels and books and then talk about them. 

Hopeful. I am a positive person. I try to approach everything with an open mind and an eye for opportunity. I am always hopeful for the best. I think things can work out and that it’s important to success to maintain a positive attitude and always have hope. 

Courageous. I am courageous. Sometimes things are difficult and scary. And that’s okay. It’s good to scare the crap out of myself sometimes. I believe in the power of doing one thing every day that scares me. I believe that this is how I will continue to grow as I live my life. Try the hotter sauce on those buffalo wings! What’s the worst that can happen? No matter what, I can try scary things and I will survive another day.

These are my personal values. These are the perspectives with which I want to live my life. I want to be able to feel fulfilled by making decisions based on these principles every day. Now I simply need to hold myself to them. Can I do it? Yes. Will it be hard? Yes. Could I mess up? Yes. Faith, creativity, curiosity, hope, and courage. These are the things that I pledge to live my life by. I’ll tell you how it goes next week.

Love, Char