Core values… we all have them, whether we acknowledge them or not. So what are yours? Can you easily tell someone what your core values are? Do you design your life around your core values? Do you live your core values?
Most of us would be able to say “Of course, I know my core values.” If that is true, then try writing them down. I think you will discover that when you try to write your core values, it is much harder than expected. Try also writing how a specific core value manifests in your daily life. This is a great exercise. How can we expect our children, spouses, relatives, employers and friends to “get us” if we are not clear in our own minds about the guiding principles we draw upon to make decisions. Think of how much easier it would be to get your kids to understand your rules, if they knew your core values. Think how much easier it would be to interact with your spouse or best friend if they knew your core values. This could be a great conversation starter.
If you are looking for a resource to help you clarify your core values, check out the Core Values eCourse. It is a good tool to get you started.
Friends. What more can I say. Friends can be a strong support system to help you strengthen the harmony in your life, your family and your work. Who else will listen to you as you vent, as you try to work your way through what you are dealing with, as your shed your tears or help you celebrate when you overcome your obstacles.
The Bag Ladies Ball
I have two dear friends who just recently helped me restore some harmony to my personal perspective and work life. We don’t live near to each other. We don’t talk by phone often. We might email once in awhile. We all have our own busy lives filled with work, families, friends and community. But we have a strong friendship. We met as colleagues over 20 years ago. We worked for different employers, but served on a state-wide association board together for a number of years. When we went different ways, we discovered we missed seeing each other and decided that we didn’t need conferences or meetings as the reason to get together. So we started getting together for one “overnight” a year. That has continued for over 25 years. We are still getting together for an “overnight.” Sometimes we can even make it two nights. Sometimes we can make it twice a year. We have dubbed our get-together the “Bag Ladies Ball.” (At some point in our lives, we were each close to being a bag lady. And we also show up for our get-togethers with things stuffed in a variety of bags.) Over the years we have supported each other through job changes, job losses, children being teenagers, children growing up and leaving home, children moving out of state, divorce, death of parents and loved ones and celebrated births, new beginnings, passages into different stages of life and just the gloriousness of being still connected to one another.
These two friends just helped me work through a slump I was in trying to pull the next few pieces of my business together. One of them is awaiting the birth of her first grandchildren. (Yes, its twins.) The other has recently retired after a very active career and is now taking time to assess and determine what she wants to jump into next.
Friends! True friends are rare.
How do you and your friends support each other? How do you deal with your differences? (even the dearest of friends can drive each other crazy once in a while.) How do your friends help you strengthen the harmony in your life, family and work?
The topic of my second post (Yea!! Feeling really experienced now…) is to explain the purpose of this blog.
The purpose of this blog (StrengthenTheHarmonyBlog.com) is to
Strengthen the Harmony Workbook
provide articles, resources and of course comments from the readers about topics and ideas that strengthen the harmony in your life, family and work.
We all have many things that can cause stress in our lives. It could be our kids, aging parents, workloads that are increasing, finances, relationships with our spouse, personal goals that seem to always be out of reach or put on the back burner. It could be trying to revamp our lifestyle to be healthier or trying to learn a new skill (like blogging) or settling into or out of a job.
Any one of these things can add stress to our life. Any one of these things can cause us to lose focus. Any one of these things can be the last straw that sends us over the edge. That’s why I finally took the leap. I finally decided it was time that I put this idea out there.
So what you will find on this blog are articles, ideas, tips and even humor to help you strengthen the harmony in your life, family and work. I don’t have the answers. But I do believe that as we share our thoughts, ideas and support one another, we will discover and uncover answers that will help us strengthen the harmony in our lives.