Values Upheld for a Valuable Life

One question that seems to have dropped into my mind while trying to put out something for this prompt is, could there be a person without some sort of values? Perhaps we will leave that question for another time. Or we will do well to address it here. However, values are important and we have heard about this for a long time already.  Values are a critical part of human life. In any way, in any sense, they affect the basic behaviour and dynamics of a person. To an extent, as far as a person's engagements with life and relationships with others. The fact that a person can do this or that boils down to certain values her or she upholds, as core and fundamental. This is certainly no new knowledge as I have mentioned earlier. I don't know if to say that subjects like Social Studies and Civic Education did justice in the presentation and in dishing out of the necessary knowledge on this topic. Notwithstanding, they presented us with a level of helpful, necessary, quality knowledge of what value means and entails. To a certain level? Yes. Some concepts and ideals in life are best learnt on the premise of life practices. Beyond that, the subject of values goes beyond mere knowledge gained, but deep down into practical applications. We can say that some values are good and we desire to have them. But only when we play the game of life can we know.  That brings it down to a more personal sense; where values become a personal thing based on which and which we uphold. This then reveals the values that are fundamentally important to us. Maybe for some reason. In the long run, however, we get attached to such values that they become a part of us. A number of these values I keep to heart. Values such as honesty, patience, kindness, self-control, gentleness, humility, and the lot of them are there in our knowledge. Desiring a better world and knowing that change starts with me, I would love to say I uphold all the positive values out there and mentioned above. However, I find that one certain binds them together, and it is what I have learnt to uphold. Integrity! One powerful value. It was in the process of a leadership course a few years back that I discovered the power of integrity as a value, and how having it could mean having all. Integrity is simply doing what you're supposed to do without eyes on you or waiting to be told. It is doing right and doing what needs to be done in the best way possible.  Since then, it has remained a core value to me. In a world full of lies, deceit, infidelity and many others in this line, integrity is a game-changer. The desire is not only for me to have this value, but that many, and virtually all people will. With this in place, negative vices will be addressed, so I consider. Nevertheless, I uphold justice, humility, selflessness, honesty, self-control and the like. There are others that I desire and do my best to see become a part of this list too. These values are necessary and important. And to the question at the beginning, everyone has values they uphold. Just that it could be positive or negative, or a touch of both. Chuckles. I guess that is it. --- *Images are mine.* ###### Thank you for reading through!