In order for us to make sense of our personal struggles and create meaning from those things that are shattered in the process, we must learn to explore the Support System comprised of our Faith, Beliefs and/or Values. The Spiritual Perspective of life acknowledges and affirms that meaning is created as we learn to transcend the obvious. It acknowledges and affirms that answers and directions are often uncovered during times of personal reflection, meditation and prayer.
Each of us possesses a set of core beliefs or values upon which we depend to help us to sift through the messiness of life and salvage those things that create meaning. Being able to articulate those core beliefs or values is the key to the creation of meaning in life. The more familiar we are with our core beliefs and values, the more likely we are to have the capacity to transcend those life experiences that so often bog us down.
Part One of this exercise is listing those core beliefs or values.
Find a quiet place free from distractions. Take a deep, cleansing breath or two. Envision times in your life when you have tapped your personal Faith, relied on strong personal belief or referred to a strongly held personal value to help you find meaning. What was that like for you to embrace one of those areas? How did you employ insight from one of those areas to move you through a particular tough situation?
Being deeply aware of your personal Beliefs or Values can open the door for accessing this primary support system when dealing with difficulties or planning your life.
Now that you have some of those Beliefs and/or Values firmly in mind, list from three to five of your personal core beliefs or values. We will refer to these tomorrow in Part Two of this exercise.
Peace!
Mark E. Hundley
