Values Essay, Research Paper

Christian Ethics, B-1,

Michael R. Way

Values are ideals that people apply to themselves in acclamation to events that occur in accordance with life. People find these values to be very pertinent to themselves and they should be followed steadfast. But as the wise man says, People don t always do what they say . This is where values divide into two distinctions, stated and lived values. At times there can be a fine line between the two, people switch between differing lived values constantly. In a manner of speaking, my entire downward spiral began from this story which I am using as an example. In 8th grade, after my two best friends, who had been dating each other for 6 months broke up, I made a grave mistake. I was in class with my friend Jenn Hoderny and she was saying that just a day after the relationship had ended she was already with a new guy. This was obviously just a recovery guy, otherwise known as a rebound , and I said something really mean. For no reason, it just spurted out, I didn t even mean to do it, but I said to her You re such a slut . Afterwards within a few seconds of saying it I immediately apologized and felt horrible. Rumor was that she cried that night on the phone over the incident, and after that the real trouble began. People who knew me and might have been somewhat jealous of me, I don t know really but at the time I had been really popular and everyone s friend, and it was my enemies chance to strike. Within a few days people were already circulating that I kept saying bad stuff about her nonstop, which was all lies, and she grew to hate me. I lost one of my best friends from this incident, from the lies and deceit of people. From the moment I said something bad people s lived values shifted from good to evil instantly, and the fine line was crossed. In this essay I will tell about my own stated and lived values and tell stories involving some of them.

My first stated value would be the one called love. This value is probably the most regressive and damaging for myself, even though it is the one I hold most highly. I have problems with falling in love too easily, and then when it eventually does not work out like always, I feel deep heart wrenching pain. It is said, It is better to have love and lost then to never have loved before , I don t agree with this wholeheartedly. I guess in a way I understand what they re actually getting at is when you fall in love with someone and it really works out. Therefore it can be something that you remember about. For example a marriage that was a long and happy one and even though you might have lost you partner you still remember the good times and know how much emptier your life would have been if you had never met them, stating this from a non partisan view. Love can bring pain and heartbreak to the best of us and in the end at one time affects us all.

Another stated value of mine would be that of honesty. This is my second most importantly held personal stated value. I try to live the most honest life that I possibly can, but I m no angel. But when people do say that I am lying about something and I m not, which is mostly the case, I get somewhat perturbed. But as I said, I m no angel, and no where near perfect. But in most cases I don t lie about things and I try to be as honest as I can. For without honesty between people, what else is there? Honesty as also with love can be the purity for the base of a relationship, for without those being intact, it can become corrupted and distorted.

The last stated value I ll mention is that of knowledge. I, myself, am in a constant search for knowledge and information to try and improve my acumen. I love to read, and to research things to learn more about the world and things I am interested in. As example, at this current time I am reading the book IT by Stephen King, which I ve already read twice but it is my favorite book of all time. Afterwards, I plan to read a book on physics to learn more about the science of it and applications of it. As of now I have probably read over 100 books or more, and I plan to read many more. Truthfully, I have a high IQ, but I am modest about it and do not brag about it, so I am not to sound arrogant. For in the end arrogance kills, and arrogance can separate one from the people he or she cares the most about.

My first lived value would be the value of love again, which I have previously covered. But what I m going to address now is my problems with it. For example, I have lots of love to give, but no one at times to receive it. The problem is that many girls that are my age can be very shallow and only care about image. In this they refuse to look past the shell of someone to the inside of them, which contains the most important parts of someone. And in a way I pity them because in the end, beauty fades, and if you just married someone for their looks it isn t going to work out well. But I also pity myself because, nevertheless, I am alone for the time being while they are not. And even when I might find someone that I really have feelings for, I am too afraid to express these feelings for fear of rejection. Example to this would be what I m going through currently, I wrote this beautiful song to this girl that I think I love but I m too afraid to deliver it for fear of being laughed at. This is one of my major weaknesses in the case of love, that I don t have the gall to go ahead with my feelings to confront someone and just take a chance.

My second lived value would be that of another repeating one, honesty. As with the value of love, honesty is not only a stated but also a lived value with me, but there are things that I can still work to improve upon. For instance, although most of the time I am honest, I could still improve the truthfulness of myself. Also, sometimes I might act too harsh on someone when they call me a liar, even if they are joking it in some way can insult my dignity. But for the most part, honesty is a somewhat well rounded value for me, if there is such a thing.

My final lived value is that of knowledge, another repetition. The problem with this value for me is that in a way sometimes, from other people s points of view, be excessive in this practice. Some people think I m a nerd, just cause I like to read or I know what I m doing with something. Actually, in the end, most people view me as an arrogant prick just because I am intelligent. This itself is bewildering even to me, not to sound vain or arrogant, but all I can think of is they might be jealous or just redirecting their own anger or problems onto me so I can be their personal scapegoat. But the truth is, I don t really think I m better than anyone else, well maybe Adolph Hitler, just joking, but everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses that make them unique and separate from the conglomerated machine of society itself. But no matter what other people think of me or what I do it will not quench my thirst for knowledge, for I feel through education one can reach true divinity and retribution against the damaging elements of the world. For to give up in what one believes in, is to let the enemy win and be swallowed up in the wholeness of uniformed society which is a far worse fate than any other.

Yawn. I hope I didn t bore you, but these previous paragraphs are what I implicitly believe idea-wise for my personal values, stated and lived. Other people s own ideas of personal values definitely vary from person to person, for no one is this same. And this ideal must be kept in mind when meeting someone, for judging someone before getting to know them can be a torrid mistake. But, alas, in the end no matter what someone was like physically we will be dust in the ground. What really matters is what someone was like spiritually or their interactions with others and how he or she lived. For this is what guides them along the pathway to the afterlife chosen by the actions of their life.