One of my mentors, Jon Benson, taught me the beauty of core values.  They are things in our lives that we live for and things we die for.  They are what makes us us and things we cannot live without.  Core values are what makes us tick, move, groove, fail, succeed.  They are the why behind all of our reasons.  A few examples …

God/faith  family   security
love   beauty   creativity
joy   peace   serve/service
wealth   order   freedom

The more we know and understand the beauty of core values in our lives and actually live by them, the more fulfilled we live.  And sometimes when we’re faced with a big goal and/or task it is imperative that we link our core values to the project.  Otherwise when the tough gets going we will have a tendency to give up.  We need to know our why – even – the why behind the why.

One of my core values is beauty.  I have learned the importance of having and creating beauty in my life.  Without it life becomes blah and I can become depressed.  Beauty motivates me and inspires me.  It can certainly make me move and groove.  Something beautiful can instantly bring me to tears as it touches my soul, that inner part that makes me me.

I never used to be a tea drinker.  Why do I bring that up?  Because years ago I discovered the beauty of drinking tea.  There’s a real art behind tea time and tea parties … and oh my gosh how I love that art.  It’s so beautiful to me as it appeals to all five of my senses.  It nurtures my soul and brings me incredible joy.

Taking it a step further, when sharing the experience of tea time with others it becomes an act of kindness, an act of service, which is another core value of mine.  A person doesn’t have to like tea to be nurtured by the whole experience.  And don’t think for a minute that the guys don’t enjoy it because they do even if they don’t want to admit it. =)

If you haven’t done something that feeds and nurtures your soul for a while and/or if you’re finding yourself  in a state of low energy maybe even depressed, pick a core value that’s important to you and act on it.  Have fun with it.  And if you want to do something but don’t know what?  Just choose a core value and become playful like a child.  I promise that your spirit will soar – it will leap with joy!

“Playfulness feeds the spirit and soul allowing for awesome moments of inspiration.”

In what ways are you feeding your soul, your spirit?  Learn the beauty of core values!