Values Provide Framework (BeFirst Course 132)

Right off the bat, I'm Dr. David King, husband, flower. All right, everybody, welcome back. Thanks so much for checking back in for the next lecture. As you know, in the last lecture, we talked about how values help to drive and limit what we do. We talked a little bit about freedom, about the choices that we make that help to give us the opportunities that we have, as well as some of the limitations that allow us to be more free as it pertains to freedom. So today, we're going to talk a little bit about how these values also provide a framework for us. These universal core values are foundational. And I want you to remember that as we go through this. These are what we build our foundation upon. I know we've touched on it earlier, but the foundation that we have must be firm and solid. And a little bit of a trigger warning for those of you who may not necessarily want to talk about religion. You can step aside for just a moment. I'm going to share some of my personal thoughts that lead to my personal core values that hopefully you'll find helpful. Again, this is not meant in any way to push anyone to believe or to aspire to anything specific. This is sharing with you some of my values that help to make me the way that I am. So values provide framework. These universal core values, core foundational values, give us a guidebook. How many of you have ever used a guidebook? Hopefully all of you. This guidebook has all sorts of guides in it. Guides that give us a clue as to our purpose here. We've talked about that a little bit already. And how we can have a positive impact on those around us. Now it's important that we remember that we're not an island unto ourselves. Guides that can help to teach us what our strengths might be and what some of our weaknesses could be as well. For many of us, these core foundational guides give us information that can enlighten us as to where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. Isn't that an interesting set of questions? Those are the three quintessential questions in life, if you will. Number one, where we came from. Number two, why are we here? And number three, where are we going? Afterlife, of course. But we can also kind of take our focus and narrow it to look past our spiritual eternal life, if you will, and look at a current section of our mortal life. Where did I come from to get to this place? Why am I here in this particular place in my life? And where am I going? What are my next steps? What am I heading to? It's important that we understand and evaluate from time to time what's led us here to where we are now. It's important to connect with our guide, our guidebook, our foundational principles, as we are endeavoring to become and to be. And remember, becoming is action and being is a process that requires effort. Without a sense for who we are and what we are here to accomplish, we may be hard-pressed to ascertain what our true purpose is and what we can do to affect positive change in our lives and the lives of those around us. Again, those around us. We are not an island unto ourselves. All of us. Although we might try to hide in the basement or in the bedroom or the office and read a book or watch a movie or play video games or sleep or whatever it is, we're all connected to those around us to some degree, more or less. You could refer to this as a connecting to a higher power, to our higher power. There's a Coldplay song called Higher Power that my brother Sam recommended to me. It's one of my favorites. It's a beautiful song. To be honest, oftentimes I don't necessarily listen to the lyrics. As a trumpet player, my brain, my mind has always gone to the melody and the supporting sounds and how it all works together. I think the lyrics are good, but the song is beautiful and it's about a higher power. So for me, my higher power, my connection is here. And I would encourage you all to evaluate what yours is. My higher power is my Savior, Jesus Christ. That's where my core foundational principles come from. Falling book bag. Don't worry. It's not going to get us. My higher power is the Savior, Jesus Christ. My personal belief in Jesus Christ as my Savior and Redeemer provides me with a solid and abiding framework through which I have a deeper sense of self-identity. Sorry. Self-identity and self-worth. Not only does this understanding in who I am as a son of heavenly parents and my connection to my eldest brother, Jesus Christ, provide me with an identity and understanding, but this understanding also gives me a framework, a foundation on and around which I can utilize my individual agency to creatively become. Again, there's that action that we've talked about here, to become. So it's a framework and it's a foundation. For each of us, our individual, family, cultural, religious beliefs may lead us to a different concept of a higher power. Regardless of your own beliefs or non-religious affiliation or belief, there is within each of us a sense of the divine, right? A sense of being part of something that is greater than just our individual life experience. Draw on this sense, this belief to assist you in creating or maybe identifying or uncovering your values and core foundational beliefs. So we all have a belief in the divine. It's interesting, not that I've read extensively on this, but I've listened to a lot of podcasts and some audio books and some very interesting concepts that revolve around us believing in a higher power, even in the absence of organized religion, if you will, and how even those of us that might consider to be agnostic or atheistic still have a belief in a higher sense of being, meaning a higher plane of existence, if you will. One of my favorite sayings that I heard last night that was in a book by John Meacham about Lincoln as I was mowing the lawn, he said that Lincoln heard an old farmer tell him, when I do good, I feel good. Like that's what he believes in. When I do good, I feel good. And I think even those of us who may be a-religious or anti-religious can understand and feel the same way. When I do good for other people, I feel good about it. And I think that is our innate sense of divine or transcending just this human, mortal, physical body and its experience that gives us that desire to do good so that we feel good. That service, that elevation, that making good choices on our own, that's what helps us to feel better about ourselves and other people. You should try it. Jordan Peterson, one of the things he's talked about recently in some of his podcasts is how if you want to be depressed, focus on yourself. The more we focus on ourselves, the direct correlation and even cause is that it leads to depression. So I would encourage you, if you want to look at changing your potential outcome, your viewpoint on life, is consider where you get your core foundational beliefs and then use that. Evaluate it. Use it to become a better version of you. Thanks.