If you enjoy these posts – you might enjoy a copy of my book, “Happiness is Over There” – which is a personal memoir detailing the stories, learnings, and exercises I used to shift my life from dark and chaotic to a life of peaceful and productive.  You can buy a signed copy at www.paperclipthinking.com or you can email me at travis@paperclipthinking.com to arrange book delivery.

I’ve been curious about the topic of importance for a number of years and more specifically, the importance I place on certain things.  When I reference “things”, I’m referring to the more materially specific things, yet the curiosity I experience became focused away from the things and more on my interpretation of the word importance.  As part of my daily routine, I write in a journal, I contemplate and think about some stuff, I meditate, and then I get on with my day.  This morning, I asked myself the question, “What’s on my list of things that I would consider important?”  Yes…I was having a 1-person dialogue, which is what happens when you conduct a twelve year longitudinal study of yourself – you become comfortable with self-chatter.  After I posed myself the question, I followed with meditation, and following the meditation came a list and I’ll share a sampling:  my career is important; being a Dad is important; being a Spouse is important; earning money is important; being a contributing member of society is important; my cars are important; my trips & vacations are important…

What had those things make the list? The things on my list seemed to be titles & material items. I continued to explore and reflect and I identified healthy reasons behind each of those “things” or “titles”. Cars for safety and ease of transportation, career for income and family support, spouse & dad as a title that represents a means to guide other lives, to show love, and to be a part of a family unit. Great reflection, yet something didn’t feel right. To preemptively squash those who are already throwing out the “snowflake” digs… I’m not advocating that having stuff or being a parent/spouse is bad.  I’m reflecting on what constitutes “important”, to me.  As I mentioned earlier in the article, I was creating the list of things that are important to me and something didn’t feel right. I felt like a bit of a hypocrite because I’ve been talking, sharing, writing, speaking, and facilitating discussions about the negative impact that can occur when we make something overly “important” in our lives.  Making something overly important led me to attachment and when I’ve been attached to things, then happiness and productivity evades me.  During my reflection this morning, I looked up the definition of importance and found this - Importance is the subjective indicator of value – and I liked that.  I’m working to ascend my thoughts and behaviors, so that I can choose to spend as much time as possible doing things that I value. After reading this definition of importance, I created another list.  A list of what I value, then I reflected on how much time I spend each day doing the things I value.  Interesting result…

I value stories because of the energy they can create, I value smiles because they lift my spirits, I value trees for their wisdom and their creative nature.  I value comfort and rest because they heal me, I value exercise because it feels so powerful, I value bold colors because they create energy, and I value love, kindness, experiences, laughter, hugs, sweat, because I experience all of them with other people and I love group energy. I value cut grass for the smell and order of a cut lawn, I value music because music makes me think and ponder, I value the roll of a big lake because of the humility I experience when witnessing the majesty of a big body of water, I value cooking because I love creating and nourishing, I value the ability to explore what makes me tick because it makes me feel more normal.

Back to my observation: how often throughout the day am I immersed in the things I value?  The answer: 50%.  In 2016 that percentage was closer to 10%, so I’m moving in a healthy direction and my life is the data that supports the positive impact. Moving that percentage from 50% to 70% to 100% is where I’m intending to go and operating within my own personal values will lead to a deeper sense of peace and productivity.  What do you value and how often throughout a day are you doing the very things you value?  Take a look- might be an interesting find.

Cheers to you and your journey…