THE BIGGER PICTURE: I had a chance to observe a situation recently. The people in it had been struggling for some time. While each individual was a good, kind, caring person, the group failed to function in those terms.
There was a lack of motivation for people to reach out, take risks, move in on each other, do things differently, support or encourage each other. Most noticeably, people were functioning to much less than their best, not even a reasonable average. In fact, they were barely performing.
I watched this for some time, trying to figure out how to motivate and encourage individuals. I experimented with a variety of directions in hope of developing some movement. However, very little changed.
The struggle was reflected clearly in the environment: the place was gloomy, chaotic and uninspiring to say the least.
And, it was in thinking about the environment that I finally noticed something new; the environment didn't reflect any values. There was a void, even worse, there was no resistance to any struggle. People were just trying to "survive the next moment", and it showed.
It is amazing how deeply important values are. It is even more amazing the diverse impact it can have to either act on and reflect our values, or operate in the absence of any.
A value is simply what gives meaning. For humans, it reaches into what is deeply meaningful to us. In this way, our values emerge from the core of our humanity. They create an active connection between our understanding of our self and the world around us. This connection is tremendously powerful.
Values give us meaning and purpose. To do so, they draw on hope. Feeling connected and valuable, expressing in our lives something that is true and inherent in our humanity, is extremely hopeful. When we are in touch with our hope, we can believe in and do anything. We cannot get more empowered than that.
Each one of us has a personal set of values. What touches us individually comes from our distinct personalities, experiences and insights. When you decide to give them importance, and so make decisions by them, they open up a world of confidence, focus and direction.
From this, comes a deeper sense of happiness - the joy of living in a world built upon what holds meaning for you. There is no greater world for you to live in.
Having this joy doesn't mean feeling good all the time, but it gives a reason to keep moving when you feel bad. Most importantly, acting on our values means acting on a sense of knowing who we are.
This allows us to remember what we know is true of us, even when our feelings are working overtime to convince us of the opposite. Creating the habit of enacting your values gives strength in the most difficult of times.
We are used to hearing about values in a shared social context rather than a personal one. Our governments, even corporate organisations, often talk about "family values" or "community values".
Having shared values within a group makes us feel like we belong. However, if those ideas do not come alive at a social level, our communities are left feeling as confused, disappointed and disenfranchised as an individual can. When our hopelessness is compounded at a social level, it becomes even more difficult to invest in hope at a personal level.
Furthermore, the strongest motives commanding attention and resources in our society are not related to our values. Profit is an example - probably the single greatest force today, driving nearly all important decisions.
Yet, this holds no connection to what is important to humanity. It stands in direct contrast, representing selfishness and exploitation, and creating disconnection. Profit is not a value, but a reflection of our distresses. An environment where distresses are given no boundaries is increasingly destructive.
The situation I was working with recently turned around completely when I decided to set up the environment based on values. While there were struggles (we could now face and challenge people's distresses), much more quickly than any other initiative, people started to take pride, feel supportive and become less defensive. It became easy for them to see why it was important to do what was difficult, and the reward became clearer and more relevant.
In the absence of values, our environment encourages our distresses - letting them become both important and powerful. The focus turns to designing things that make us "feel better", and we lose courage to challenge ourselves and move forward.
In every pivotal situation, we face a choice: do what is hard but meaningful to us; or ignore meaning and give up at the struggle. Each choice leads us in dramatically different directions. However difficult, discovering our values and reflecting them in our actions and environment allows us to truly express our selves.
Shalini Sinha has established Forward Movement, a clinic where she practises life coaching, the Bowen Technique and is studying nutritional medicine.