Have you ever been watching a movie and all of a sudden started crying? How about a commercial on TV?
Or have you ever been out at a restaurant and overheard an argument between a couple and you were so upset by what the wife was saying to the husband, and how she was saying that you wanted to get up and tell her to stop? Did it make you want to leave?
How about shopping at the store and you saw a father do something to his son that just made you want to call 911?
How about a clerk that was speaking to someone so harshly and dismissive it made you say something to her or the person or want to?
These are all just examples of how situations in our environment touch us.
Deeply. We feel something about them all. Happy, sad, hopeful, anger, protective, touched and MORE.
All of these examples are things that touch our vales and beliefs.
We often take them way too lightly in the sense of not understanding HOW they can touch us so deeply. We feel them, maybe talk about them, and then move on.
Recently I was talking to a client, and she was crying and upset – actually incensed – about how she repeatedly encountered conversations in her personal life, at work, on social media that bashed GOD and Christianity.
She would cry and feel sad and anger. She was so touched she thought something was wrong with her.
Why couldn’t she just let it go and not be SO upset?
I asked her what she was feeling and she started expressing herself and then all of a sudden she looked at me and said I feel shame. I said tell me more about that? She wasn’t feeling shame about being a Christian… she was feeling shame because she didn’t VOICE her beliefs in any of these instances. She felt she was not being faithful to GOD.
We talked this through and worked on what were her Core Values. She discovered that having a voice and expressing her values was something she truly valued in others and wanted for herself. Speaking Her Truth. Having HER VOICE.
This week I want to invite you to notice when these things happen to you so you can learn more about yourself, your core values and beliefs.
Just start by writing everything down.
When am I touched in a way that MOVES me to tears, to laughter, to love?
When have I witnessed an experience watching others, in person, movies, tv etc that enraged me, moved me to tears, unsettled me in a strong way?
Can you remember when you were so incensed by something you SPOKE UP or went home and talked about it?
Once you start compiling your experiences take each one and write out all the feelings you had during that time. Then begin to remember those feelings and as you are ask yourself this question:
What core value or belief is this touching in me?
What I know you will begin to discover is that all of those feelings say SO much more about YOU than the feelings about the others in the experience.
It’s a great way to learn more and more about what drives you, moves you, and what you truly hold as your Core Values.
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