1.3 - Holier than Me

I am a product of my values.

I have a lot of values. I value my relationship with God. I value life, respect, competence, common sense, and my time. I value family, friends, education, and (usually) my job. It may also be obvious that I also value my place on the couch, movies, ice cream, and those little powdered mini-donuts. Diet Coke and the BK Stacker are also on the list, but I digress...

I have a low tolerance for those who do not share my values--especially those values that are most important to me. To some, this appears to manifest itself as arrogance, or the idea that I think I'm better than they are. The truth is that I don't think I'm better, I know I'm better.

Any thoughts I have of being better than someone else are inextricably tied to my values. I work hard at being competent, logical, respectful, and educated. I have a very difficult time dealing with those who are incompetent, illogical, disrespectful, and uneducated--especially those who are making no effort to correct these tremendous deficiencies.

We all live our lives in some attempt to maximize our adhesion to our values, whether we know what they are or not. This is a constant balancing act. It is impossible to put all of your time and effort into all of the different things that are important to you. There are always tradeoffs.

There are those who value humility, mercy, forgiveness, and compassion. Perhaps these values are better than mine...