#52 Stories--Story #5

What personal values do I hold most dear?

There are many that mean a great deal to me.  However, my most dearly held personal values would include FAMILY, INTEGRITY, and DOING MY BEST.

FAMILY is vital and of eternal worth, as that is the most important set of relationships we can develop.  I have responsibility to forge bonds with my parents, and sister and her family.  I have duty to create a bond with my husband and children and their eventual families. Ultimately, we are bonding our family links from ancestors to descendants through temple work and ordinances offered there. Eventually we will have the chance to build that bond directly all the way back to the beginning and have those same relationships with our Heavenly parents. That will be the greatest worth and most cherished blessing from family.

INTEGRITY because I'd love to be recognized for being honest and staying true to what I say I will do. There is strength that comes from doing what is right, no matter who is watching, and I'd love to have that kind of reputation. For my word to be good enough for others to believe and count on would be a good marker of my character.

DOING MY BEST is important as I am not perfect in my behavior, but I try each day to be a little better, and do a little better. I hope other people would give me the benefit of the doubt when I do mess something up--thinking that I would not do something purposefully to hurt another person. DOING MY BEST is an attitude of continuing to try, of never giving up, of enduring to the end. The Lord has asked that much of me.  And so long as I am trying to do my best, I can count myself in alignment with Him.
 

#52 Stories--Story #4

If you had to pinpoint 3 main values that your parents tried to instill in you, what would they be?

There are many values my parents tried to instill in me--some more successfully than other, I'm sure--but if I had to narrow the focus to only three I think I would include: hard work, responsibility, and honesty.

HARD WORK
More time than I care to remember my mom would quote the old TV character, Maynard G Krebs, "WORK?!"  Like that was a four lettered word to us.  By doing this she was reiterating, gently, that we needed to learn to like working--or at the least appreciate the outcome working hard can bring.

My parents are two of the hardest working people I know. They very rarely slow down, and even the idea of "relaxing" tot hem is just work in another form. 

While my dad worked for Snap On Tools while I was a little girl, first as a dealer then slowly into middle management that I really don't think he liked much, he worked hard, long hours and sometimes in grueling situations. Not everyone gets along with their boss, I knew that, but dad kept at it.  Some bosses were easier to work with than others.  Midway through my high school career my dad took a financial risk, and bought a local automotive shop in town. Long hours really came with this venture.  And mom was right there with him. They made the shop successful together and with combined effort, toil, blood, sweat and tears, I'm very sure.

My mom was always working. Housework, yard work, gardening, canning, caring for my grandparents, getting my sister and I to and from our activities, participating with us in those activities, and working in her callings over the years. The only thing I even remember her doing for herself was a painting class when I was young.  She took an oil painting class--she was really quite good at it too--but she worked at that too. Then she used the paintings she created as Christmas or birthday gifts for family and friends.

When dad wasn't working, he was still working at the house.  He has always has a project--a race car, a vehicle restoration, a side job--going on at the shop at home. He helped my mom with stuff around the house too. Building or dismantling, repairing or reinforcing or improving. He used his skills to help us--building chicken coops or goat houses or sheep barns or rabbit hutches.  He repaired fences, water pumps, drainage issues, driveways, swimming pool filters & heaters.  There was always something that needed repair, and he figured out a way to do it.

They passed that work ethic to us. I got my first job when I was only 15.  I worked the summer I turned 15 as a lifeguard/babysitter for the local Goldsmith Seed company for the employee's kids for the summer.  I couldn't drive myself there yet, but they made sure I was there ready to work every day. I knew what was expected of me and I learned to find pleasure in a job well done. When I was 16 and could get a "real" job I applied to work at the fabric store in town, Beverly's Fabrics. I quickly was left to close up on weekends and I knew my manager counted on me to do a full shift's work.

RESPONSIBILITY
The hard work spills into this value too.  Once, while I was working at Beverly's, I was scheduled to go into work on a Saturday about 2pm.  But I had gone with friends to the beach that day. I "called in sick" to Marilyn, my manager, from a pay phone somewhere in Watsonville. I am pretty sure she could tell that I was probably faking--and just didn't want to work that day.  She said nothing about and told me to feel better. I stayed at the beach with friends. Later, mom found out.  They always do--who was I kidding?!?  I certainly heard about the disappointment I caused and the lack of trust I displayed and the disappointment, did I mention that?

OK, lesson learned.  Be responsible.

HONESTY
Telling a lie, not living up to your word, breaking a promise--these are all things I was taught early and often to avoid.  My parents' word is their bond.  A handshake from them was a solid as a contract. Telling the truth was imperative. I always knew I could trust my parents. I saw that trust in action as they worked with people, as they ran their business, and they dealt with our family and friends. In fact, my mom wasn't ever even very good at tricks or surprises a lot of time if it meant that she had to tell us something other than the full truth and nothing but the truth.  Once in a while she could pull that off, but not very much.  I love that about her.  I always know she is telling me the truth and I always know I can trust her.

These three values all work together in a world where worth ethic has vaporized, responsibility is shirked as often as possible and honesty is hardly ever heard, to quote Billy Joel. My parents taught me these as much with their examples and behaviors as they did with their words.  For that I will always be grateful.

Sometimes WHO is More Important Than WHAT

Thsu week at work I've figured out I really enjoy my co-workers.  They make me crazy--to be sure--but they are also really good people.  Perfect? No.  But good people tryignto do good things and help each one of us along the way.

I don't know why this came as a revelation this week.  Nothing major happened.  But last Wednesday night our boss took us to the movies (with spouses/dates) to celebrate the business turning 15 years old.  This Wednesday we had a team meeting to talk about our business goals and the owner's 5 year plans for all the businesses.  We are all interrelated and when one group succeeds we all do.

While I believe the work I do is impactful--particularly to the patients we serve and their families--I really enjoy working with these folks.

That is just a nice thing to finally figure out.

Value of the Day: Honesty

And here are a few thoughts on the subject:

Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.
Thomas Jefferson

The foundation stones for a balanced success are honesty, character, integrity, faith, love and loyalty.
Zig Ziglar

Honesty is the best policy - when there is money in it.
Mark Twain

I look for these qualities and characteristics in people. Honesty is number one, respect, and absolutely the third would have to be loyalty.
Summer Altice

No legacy is so rich as honesty.
William Shakespeare

Honesty is the best policy.
Benjamin Franklin

Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is attained.
Lao Tzu

It has always seemed strange to me... the things we admire in men, kindness and generosity, openness, honesty, understanding and feeling, are the concomitants of failure in our system. And those traits we detest, sharpness, greed, acquisitiveness, meanness, egotism and self-interest, are the traits of success. And while men admire the quality of the first they love the produce of the second.
John Steinbeck

Truly, I would not hang a dog by my will, much more a man who hath any honesty in him.
William Shakespeare

The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.
Groucho Marx

Here are the values that I stand for: honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. To me, those are traditional values.
Ellen DeGeneres

Your conscience is the measure of the honesty of your selfishness. Listen to it carefully.
Richard Bach

Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.
Franklin D. Roosevelt

Drawing is the honesty of the art. There is no possibility of cheating. It is either good or bad.
Salvador Dali

I am afraid we must make the world honest before we can honestly say to our children that honesty is the best policy.
George Bernard Shaw

Honesty and integrity are absolutely essential for success in life - all areas of life. The really good news is that anyone can develop both honesty and integrity.
Zig Ziglar

Honesty is for the most part less profitable than dishonesty.
Plato

It is discouraging how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.
Noel Coward

I lost my sense of trust, honesty and compassion. I crashed down and became what I consider an emotional mess. I've never been so miserable in my whole life. I just wanted to go to bed and never get up.
Shania Twain

A sarcastic person has a superiority complex that can be cured only by the honesty of humility.
Lawrence G. Lovasik

I believe in using words, not fists. I believe in my outrage knowing people are living in boxes on the street. I believe in honesty. I believe in a good time. I believe in good food. I believe in sex.
Bertrand Russell

It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. Mencken

Honesty is the cruelest game of all, because not only can you hurt someone - and hurt them to the bone - you can feel self-righteous about it at the same time.
Dave Van Ronk

What makes a woman beautiful is her loyalty to and her friendships with other women, and her honesty with men.
Vanessa Marcil

Almost any difficulty will move in the face of honesty. When I am honest I never feel stupid. And when I am honest I am automatically humble.
Hugh Prather

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people.
Dennis Prager

I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it.
Charles Dickens

I like honesty and fair play.
Marcus Garvey

It's discouraging to think how many people are shocked by honesty and how few by deceit.
Noel Coward