What Are My Values?

We learned about Frederick Douglass in class the other day and we got onto the topic of values. Douglass valued freedom and knowledge above all because he was raised as a slave and was lucky enough to be taught how to read. He taught himself how to write and escaped from his enslavers when he was a teenager.

Values are important to a person and often shape them, the actions they take and what they believe in. Friendship, loyalty, knowledge, family and courage are my core values. The way values work, there are layers to them. Values are like an onion, kind of. There are the "core values" which are basically what structures your life. What you strive for, how your life turns out and the choices you make depend greatly on what core values you have.

The values that aren't core values I like to break up into 3 groups. What makes up my personality, what I wouldn't be able to live without and how I see others. All three groups are equally as important as each other, they just have different values in each of them that influence my life in a different way. Some of the values in each group are very mundane while others are a bit weird, but they make up who I am as a person.

What makes up my personality:

I am 1000 different things wrapped into one. I am a decent human being and I have decent human being values. I value the mistakes I make, because they let me grow as a person. I value the things I get to learn daily because I would not be the person I am today without them. I value sarcasm because of the conversations I have with my family that are 99% sarcastic. I value animals because without them, I'd be lonely. I value the world around us, because without it we wouldn't exist. I value literature, because it transports me into a different realm altogether. I value my friends because they help me

when I cannot help myself. I value each and every person who cares about me in any way because sometimes I know I don't deserve it. I value the skeletons in my closet because I would not be a stronger person without them. Every thing that I value makes up who I am and my personality.

(My closet skeletons are wild.)

What I wouldn't be able to live without:

Everyone has certain things they think they wouldn't be able to live without. It usually consists of materialistic things such as their phones or laptops. I value knowledge above all. I wouldn't be able to live without knowing some very basic things. Like how dinosaurs existed (some people still don't believe that to be true) and that gravity is the force that keeps us pinned to the earth. Knowledge is what I value most when it comes to the things I would not be able to live without. Side note: family is the second thing I wouldn't be able to live without. I am not a monster, family is indeed important to me. However, knowledge is power, everyone.

How I see others:

I am a very strong person. I treat others how they treat me as often as I possibly can. The people around me who have the same values as me, I will obviously get along with easier. However I value individuality, so the people who aren't as much like me are just as important. I value someone who is stubborn but knows when it is time to relent. I value strength because there are so many types of it. There is the obvious strong, someone who is physically strong. There are people who are strong willed. People who have gone through so much they have no choice but to be strong. There are people who are strong and silent. Strong and vulnerable. Strength can be found in anyone. I value people who just generally try. They try to be better or try to get through the day or try to learn something new. Anyone who is trying is doing great in my books. Above all I value forgiveness in people. I am not the most forgiving person so having someone who will look at my mistakes and love me in spite of them is something truly special. The people around me influence my values as much as I influence theirs. People are wonderful and I value every single person who makes an effort in anything.

My values are constantly changing as I meet new people and discover new things. I'm a skeptic, so I can't help but question everything and anything which is why they're constantly changing. Values make up a person but don't always define them. My values are important to me and make up a good portion of who I am.