A few weeks ago, I wrote a series of three posts about values. Searching (2 min read), Tension (2 min read), and Anti-Values (2 min read).
I continue to think about values and wanted to share a fourth part to this series.
First, a story.
Well, not so much a story as my current reality as I write this sentence.
As a family, we are about two hours away from leaving our house to drive to the airport.
We're heading off on our annual family vacation.
This means, I am writing this sentence in the midst of the last-minute packing/make sure the house is in order moments, before leaving.
It's safe to say, this is currently a stressful time.
What are you like when you're stressed?
If you don't know, just ask someone you trust. If you have a partner, ask them.
Stress usually forces me to lean hard on a single value. In my case, discipline.
What this means is that discipline's counter-value, kindness, sort of goes out the window.
Discipline is very helpful for me in these moments, it's comforting. For me this looks like making very exacting lists, and writing down many time allotments to the items on those lists.
I have 28 minutes left in the time allotment for this blog post.
The point of my story is that stress can highlight or perhaps even reveal certain values that we hold. Often, just a single one.
If this is the case for you too, there's likely another value that's being silenced by the stress.
This silenced value might actually be a secret weapon to help you during a stressful time, try to pull on it a bit if you can.
In my case, I am sure that kindness will help make this day easier. Especially kindness directed internally.
The next time you're stressed, pay attention and see what you notice.