Therapy Thursday – Core Values

Session 8: Core Values

In this session, we discussed my core values. It wasn’t a quiz – it was a homework assignment I had been previously given.

My Core Values (2005)

Self reliance
Moral courage
Accountability
Responsibility
Integrity

I was then asked to talk to each member of my immediate birth family (mom, dad and sisters) and ask them what their core values were, making a separate list for each of them. Then, I was to compare them.

How many were alike? How many were different? Which ones were coincidental?

What do those lists say about me and my family?

What do those lists say about our values and the influence and impact we have had on each other?

In late 2020, a big and unexpected life change caused me to do some real soul-searching. Reading through old TT journal entries and sermon notes had me re-examining my core values.

One of my greatest challenges in life has been my inability to “surrender”. I’ve often felt as though I have to try to control every aspect of my life. When I am being honest with myself, I realize I am NOT completely self-reliant, nor do I want to be.

It would be a sad, lonely life if I were.

Consequently, “self-reliance” has been removed from my core values, and Faith & Grace have been added. After all, it has been faith and grace (from God and others) that has sustained me through the hard times.