Values

There's lots of talk about values.  The books I read frequently discuss the importance of values.  The curriculum I use for the ethics class I teach is big on values.  Whether for profit or non profit, church or business, values are huge.

I learned long ago, though, that there is a difference between what you value and what you want to value.

For instance, and I tell my ethics students this all the time, you may say you value generosity.  But if we look at your time and finances and see no evidence of generosity, you merely aspire to be generous, because as of now, you are not generous.  You can test this with any value: time with family, hard work, organization, and trust are just a sliver of possible values.  Take a value, measure it against the proof of your life, and see if it's a value.

This isn't a judgment or a negative thing.  It simply means our values are already apart of us.