How My Values Relate to Who I Am Essay Example for Free

How My Values Relate to Who I Am Essay Throughout history, there have always been a set of laws governing how society should act. When I began to think about it, society’s rules seemed to stem from a basic set of values that every person should aspire to have. In most cultures, the value system is based on religion; even the countries which are not under religious law. So, what are my values, how do they give me meaning, how do they factor into who I am, and how to they factor into American society? What gives me meaning is living by my own rules within reasonable terms. I do not want to hurt anyone, but life is too short to have someone else decide my fate. I am happy living for myself and simultaneously putting down stepping stones to accomplish my goals in life. I learned that once I made decisions in regards to what I wanted to do, it made me a much happier person. Also, when I am surrounded by great people who love me in spite of if I become a Nobel Prize winner or a great failure that gives me great confidence. Those tenets give my life meaning because I do not want to look back and regret that I did not take a different path than the one I chose. When I follow me, I focus on reaching my goals and that drive coupled with unwavering support from friends and family, makes me happy. I mean a genuine happy, not an artificial happy that may be garnered by purchasing material items. The values that I retain include never allowing me to mentally stagnate, high morals, and being able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day. I believe that when a person allows himself or herself to mentally stagnate, he or she is happy with being uninformed in the world. Look at Stephen Hawking, he has every reason to allow himself to fade away, but even though he cannot speak anymore, he has virtually changed the way people in his field of physics think about the universe. I believe in high morals because there are too many people running around jumping in and out of bed, yet never making a connection with another person. That way of living is not for me. Love and true feelings take a long time to develop, not a night, a week, or a month. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day. That keeps me in order. Refusing mental stagnation is just a supplement to my foundation values. My foundation values are definitely my morals. The core system of my morals are, living a just and fair life, treating others well. All other values are just supporting cast members in my life. I believe that if I stay on the moral path, the goals I have in life will be accomplished without putting more energy than necessary into it. I use my values frequently because they are represented everyday. I am the embodiment of my values. I am far from perfection, but I believe that being an adult is less about doing what I want to, but doing what is right in spite of my own wants. I have taken paths where I could choose between a job with more pay and a job with next to nothing pay. I chose the â€Å"indentured servant† job because it made me happier in ways that no one but I could understand. My values influence me because they enable me to transcend normal material values. When I see an expensive car, I do not automatically think that person has an amazing life and is problem free. Since I have an aversion to mental stagnation, I am always reading something. If I have to go to the doctor’s office and the only reading material in the reception is a coin collecting magazine from 1977, I will read it. It seems with all of my values, I should feel conflicted, but I do not because my values do not compete with one another. The problems I have encountered are when my values compete with the real world. Sometimes in American culture, people do not understand morals because there is a lack of them on display. I try to maintain my composure and always do what is right no matter what, that is what keeps me on track, well, at least most of the time. The best way to resolve any conflict between my values and the outside world is to change what is on television. I think many people have problems with a person with values because in the mainstream media, lack of values is marketed as fun and a person with morals is portrayed as â€Å"square†. I have thought many times that I could be a bit outdated; maybe I should lighten up on my dating requirements or take a job because my family wanted me to take it, but that is not the answer. If I reverted to change my value system because of societal pressures, then I am not living for me. I need all of my values; they work as an interconnecting team which support me even when I may have no support or understanding. Just like laws that were written into society and suddenly eradicated, (causing the cultures to delve into anarchy), so would I if I were to do the same with my values. I neglected to mention God as an integral part of my value system because I believe if I follow my own laws, I will live a life that will follow God’s rules anyway. My values are who I am and I would just be a shell without them.