work out what my ideals and my values are, and what they should be

I think happiness is the ultimate goal.

Both my own happiness and the happiness of others.

I know this is trite, and a cliche, but life is short and we only pass this way once. We may as well enjoy the journey to the max.

I’d love to relish every moment.

Especially at work… we spend so much time at work, and there is absolutely no good reason we should not be happy at work- maybe not the manic grinning variety of happy but more a deep sense of contentment.

Over the last few weeks, or maybe months even, I’ve been thinking about the value ‘kindness’.

I want kindness to be one of the cornerstones of my existence, if not THE cornerstone of my existence.

I think it is strongly linked to my other ideal ‘happiness’ (which I’ve not written about yet).

If we are kind to each other we can increase the amount of happiness there is in the world.

We need to be kind to ourselves and to others.

Being kind to ourselves does not mean giving in to every whim we have.

Self-dicipline is important to ensure we get the most out of life.

We need to be able to see ourselves as imperfect beings we are but not to be too judgemental.

We need to give ourselves the time and space needed to make an informed deep-founded change.

I think principles are the, sometimes implicit, rules by which we live, or think we should live our lives. Values and ideals are notions of what we think is important in life.

I have this view of ideals, values and principles being something we often passively pick up, hold on to and don’t tend to question.

I think we pick up these ideals, values and principles without even noticing. We get them from our family, friends, wider society and the media.

I’d like to have a good look at my ideals, values and principles and, one by one, and decide consciously if I want them to be the cornerstone of my being (wow, that sounds pompous).

If they are not fit for purpose I’ll need to rethink them and find better ones. I’m not sure what the criteria will be or how I will work it all out, I hope it will all be intrinsic.