Uncovering our Values
A lot of people talk about, aligning with Values, but what exactly does that mean? I'm going to share a very personal story to see if I can help you understand.
My husband and I started our journey, after years of planning, to attempt to be digital nomads in February 2020...as you can imagine, we ran into a bit of a hitch. Two weeks after our arrival in Colombia, the world shut down.
We were able to get on a repatriation flight back to the States, where we began the long wait for things to improve (which is a tale in itself). About this time last year we decided we were ready to give the nomadic life another go.
In the last year, we've been to India, all over Europe, Colombia, Panama, Oaxaca, and Hawaii...working remotely as we go. It was what we'd wanted to do forever, and yet something wasn't feeling quite right to me.
I have rated the Values of friends, family and community very high in my life. I didn't realize at first that this was what was causing my unhappiness because we were staying with friends for many months in Colombia. I would also imagine that part of me didn't want to admit to myself that this was part of the problem because of what it would mean...
When we UNCOVER our Values and then recognize the Truth of their weight in our lives, we can't unsee them. Acknowledging them and choosing to align with them sometimes requires bravery, especially when you've based your current life trajectory on other Values you thought carried more significance.
That's why it is so important to take a close look at the Values we hold dear. Getting clear on them is the first step towards living with integrity, and the second is being able to communicate them. This is part of the path to living authentically.
Does this story sound familiar to you? In what ways do you feel you have "arrived" in your life, only to still feel lost? How can you embrace the opportunity to be brave, learn, and begin the life you actually want to live? How can you empower yourself to keep looking further?
The ending/beginning of this story for me is that we are moving home. Back where our friends and community are, back to being with the people we love. Making this choice was not an easy one, but I know that it was the right call to make. Moving forward we will find other ways to satisfy the Values we hold for travel and adventure that also honor the personal connections we want to cultivate.
UNCOVERING our Values is part of the QUEST (Question, Uncover, Explore, Shift, Thrive) framework I'm putting together for my my clients who are women over 40 that have hit a crossroads. They are realizing what they thought was important isn't fitting anymore, but they are afraid of what that might mean.
If you are interested in taking a deeper dive into defining your Values, I'd love to schedule a free consultation in order to see what we can discover together. I offer a safe space and the time for you to explore what's next in your journey. Email me at Jennifer@DailyChoices.Life, or if you want to hear more you can subscribe to my newsletter via the link in the comments.
