Five Important Values

From the list of values, the one that’s most important to me is education. Without education, none of the other values have any merit. In order to understand the world around me, the society as a whole, my personal strengths and weaknesses, and properly assess others who come in my path, education takes precedent. A good mind is a terrible thing to waste. I would never compromise my education in light of anything that comes my way, even if it means making personal sacrifices.

The second most important quality on this list for me is good health. The same as education, without it nothing else matters. Having struggled with ill health for some time, I understand how fickle life is. One day you are healthy and the next you’re planning your own funeral in your mind. Health is important to be able to value the gifts of the world, take vacations, play with my children, and overall enjoy life. Everything should be done to maintain optimal physical fitness and remain at the peak of my body’s potential.

The third quality of great importance to me is religion. Although in the past, this would be considered part of the overall education, these days the ethos of knowledge are growing more secular by the day. Religion is a vital part of any stable mental health. For anybody going through stress or inner turmoil, connecting with a religion is tantamount to recovery. This is evident in the presence of God in the drug and alcohol rehabilitation processes.

Next on the list, the fourth most important quality is a strong connection to personal hobbies. Without good hobbies, one is fast to grow bored. Boredom breeds contempt. It is best to stay active physically and mentally in order to be a complete human being. Also, nobody gets through life being serious all the time. Every now and then, we need to let our hair down. Keeping hobbies as part of the overall experience of life keeps things fresh and entertaining.

Last, but not least, happiness is one quality from the list I cannot live without. This seems self-evident, for who would not want to be happy. Still, some would rather have economic security over peace of mind. That is, until they have a mansion and find themselves restless each night. More and more, celebrities are finding that money is not the key to life. Being happy and content with what you have and how you earned it is much more important than building massive amounts of dollars in the bank.

I passed out this list to my best friend, my sister, my father, my mother, one of my teachers, and my aunt. Each of their lists was surprising in comparison to mine. I thought we would have some type of crossover, but that wasn’t the case.

My best friend is a 28-year-old male. He listed his top five values at 1) Friends, 2) Independence, 3) Privacy, 4) Family of Origin, and 5) Religion. Only one of the qualities crossed over.

My sister is 35 years old. Her list went like 1) Children, 2) Happiness, 3) Satisfying Employment, 4) Good Health, and 5) Low-Crime Community. Again, only one of the qualities crossed over.

My mother is 55. She listed her top five as 1) Children, 2) Personal Hobbies, 3) Friends, 4) Low-Crime Community, and 5) Good Health. We had two qualities in common: personal hobbies and good health.

My father is 58. His list: 1) Happiness, 2) Economic Security, 3) Children, 4) Privacy, and 5) Satisfying employment. Our one crossover was happiness.

My teacher is 63. His list: 1) Privacy, 2) Good Health, 3) Education, 4) Low-Crime Environment, and 5) Satisfying Employment. Our two crossovers: good health and education.

My aunt (from my father) is 61. She listed her top five as 1) Religion, 2) Education, 3) Good Health, 4) Clean Environment, and 5) Happiness. So far, we were the closest. We had four crossover qualities.