OUR VALUES SHAPE US – WHAT WE ARE AND WHAT WE BECOME IS DECIDED BY WHAT WE VALUE
Pranay Jain Godha
As human beings, we are also social beings. Humans are called as social animals. It is the attribute of “being social” that differentiates us from animals. So, how and what makes us social. It is nothing but – “VALUES”. Because, all living beings have emotions, but the ability to express & the privilege of conveying the feelings to others is only given to humans. So, what we express, how we behave, and what matters to us the most, depends on “VALUES”.
– Values are nothing but certain shared principles, belief systems and ideals that help us bring stability in our social relations. Values are the guiding principles of our behavior. Our values determine what we onsider to be right (or) wrong, fair (or) unfair, good (or) evil and so on. At an individual level, a person’s values are indicative of their character & at professional (or) organizational level, values reflect the ethics & principles of the business and work culture.
To categorise & classify Values, depends on context & environment one is present in. As a person, we play different roles at different times and in different phase of our life. So, as context varies, values also changes. This brings us to classify values as family values, human values, moral & ethical values, organizational values, patriotic and national values, societal values and so on. But, the special & unique feature of all these values is that, “they are interconnected”.
OUR VALUES SHAPE US
What we value, shapes our character. It is through behavior, our values are projected. If a person values probity & integrity, that will be shown through his honest actions. If a person values the end result the most rather than means, he or she will resort to wrong path to attain the goal, and hence that will be further manifested through their actions.
In this process, sub-consciously, our habits, our thoughts also get framed accordingly, and a pattern of behavior is formed which forms the part of our personality. This will at the end, become our character and what we are.
As we have known and realized that there are different values that we possess and exhibit from time to time, it is imperative to understand which value matters to every individual in common and also collectively to the society as a whole. As there is interconnectedness between values, we need to connect the dots and give a proper structure to this “Tree of Values.”