CLARIFYING VALUES Here are some exercises that may help you clarify your values. Try the ones that speak to you, or try them all! After you have made some notes, take a few moments to “pull out” the core values from each one. You may want to refer to the “EXAMPLES OF COMMON VALUES” sheet for inspiration. WHAT MATTERS? What do you really want? What matters to you in the big picture? What do you want to stand for? Is there anything in your life right now that gives you a sense of meaning, purpose, vitality? ONE MOMENT If you only had one moment on earth, what would you want to do? How would you want to be? THE SWEET SPOT Vividly recall a rich, “sweet“ memory and get in touch with the emotions. What is meaningful about this memory? MISSING OUT What important areas of life have you given up or missed out on for lack of willingness? CHILDHOOD DREAMS As a child, what sort of life did you imagine for the future? ROLE MODELS Who do you look up to? Who inspires you? What personal strengths or qualities do they have that you admire? SPEECHES Imagine your eightieth birthday (or twenty-first or fiftieth or retirement party, and so on). Two or three people make speeches about what you stand for, what you mean to them, the role you played in their life. In the IDEAL world, where you have lived your life as the person you want to be, what would you hear them saying? a community project based in Wolfville, which cultivates heartfulness and mindfulness in our everyday lives www.hear twideopen.ca “When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.” — Pema Chödrön 17
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