The final value I will be exploring is Nurture. Being nurturing is often associated with mothers and caregivers. While being nurturing is especially important in these roles, everyone can benefit greatly from becoming more nurturing not just to others but also to themselves. I greatly enjoyed working to better understand what it means to be... Continue Reading →
Modesty
I spent a while learning about the definition of Modesty and the subtle differences between it and humility. The clearest difference I found was modesty focuses more on protecting others' egos and is intentional and external while humility is about subduing one's own ego and is effortless and internal (Source). I believe the ideal I... Continue Reading →
Nature
Research done by David Strayer has proven that being in nature reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex which assists in the restoration of this region. He also proved that the levels of theta and alpha wave activity are lower while in nature which translates to having a more rested brain. This is just one of... Continue Reading →
Moderation
Moderation is certainly something I have struggled with in my life. Having moderation, or in my mind finding balance, is such an important part of maintaining health and longevity. I have spent time exploring what moderation means to me and reworking my thoughts so it is ever-present in my thinking. I look forward to continuing... Continue Reading →
Service
Throughout high school and college, I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent volunteering. Seeing the gratitude on the people's faces that I was helping and feeling the energy of giving from the environment and others around me always generated an unmatched feeling inside me. For the past week or so, I have been trying my... Continue Reading →
Integrity
Over the past week or so I have been exploring the idea of Integrity. Both lying and straying from one's moral code can lead to dichotomies in our identity and subsequently fill us with guilt. When we have an idea of who we want to be, or what moral code we adhere to, and our... Continue Reading →
Unity
I took a short hiatus after losing my beloved companion, Koji. Not having him around made it much more difficult to push onward towards my goals of reforming my core values, however, I know that he is always with me through the memories I have with him as well as the effects he had on... Continue Reading →
Knowledge
I spent the past week diving into the concept of Knowledge. It turned out to be a rather complex idea that I thoroughly enjoyed exploring and gaining a greater understanding of. There are quite a bit of ideas that I believe are important and relevant to the concept and crafting a succinct definition was quite... Continue Reading →
Optimism
I spent the past week or so working to understand Optimism more thoroughly and to implement it more frequently in my life. Optimism is the first of these values to have some negative opinions about it, and I enjoyed learning about them. After spending time meditating on it each day, I concluded that it boils... Continue Reading →
Gratitude
The second value I absorbed into myself was Gratitude. I was successfully able to complete the fast I explained in the last post. I spent five days without eating as well as without using my phone, computer or TV. It was a very odd experience at first because so much of what I do involves... Continue Reading →
Amusing Monk 