What are values you cherish even though they run counter to societal values?
I'd like to think that the values I cherish are slowly being embraced by society. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Maybe it's desperate hoping. At any rate, here they are.
OPEN-MINDEDNESS, OPEN-HEARTEDNESS. I think adults should be able to love each other without restrictions. We ought to be able to marry who we want, start a family with who we want, and be treated with respect no matter who shares our bed and our life.
COMMON COURTESY. Whether it's talking loudly on a cell phone in the line at the grocery store or cutting someone off in traffic, rudeness seems to rule these days. I enjoy polite courtesies. Hold the door open for someone. Refrain from flipping the bird at a bad driver. Smile and say hello when you pass a stranger on the sidewalk. It won't kill you.
THE ABILITY TO TRULY LISTEN. So many times I start to have a conversation with someone only to realize quickly that it isn't a true conversation at all. The person with whom I'm speaking can't wait for me to shut up so he/she can tell me all the wonderful things about himself/herself that I've been not-so-dying to know. People love to talk about themselves. People love to hear themselves talk. People love to listen, really listen? Not so much.
FIDELITY. Half the marriages end in divorce. I must give a shout out to honoring the marriage vows. Mostly I'll take the opportunity to brag about my husband, who is not only faithful, but witty, charming, feisty, a great listener, usually courteous (at least to me), a raging liberal, and, in certain light and with the proper growth of beard, a dead ringer for Brett Favre.
I'd like to think that the values I cherish are slowly being embraced by society. Maybe it's wishful thinking. Maybe it's desperate hoping. At any rate, here they are.
OPEN-MINDEDNESS, OPEN-HEARTEDNESS. I think adults should be able to love each other without restrictions. We ought to be able to marry who we want, start a family with who we want, and be treated with respect no matter who shares our bed and our life.
COMMON COURTESY. Whether it's talking loudly on a cell phone in the line at the grocery store or cutting someone off in traffic, rudeness seems to rule these days. I enjoy polite courtesies. Hold the door open for someone. Refrain from flipping the bird at a bad driver. Smile and say hello when you pass a stranger on the sidewalk. It won't kill you.
THE ABILITY TO TRULY LISTEN. So many times I start to have a conversation with someone only to realize quickly that it isn't a true conversation at all. The person with whom I'm speaking can't wait for me to shut up so he/she can tell me all the wonderful things about himself/herself that I've been not-so-dying to know. People love to talk about themselves. People love to hear themselves talk. People love to listen, really listen? Not so much.
FIDELITY. Half the marriages end in divorce. I must give a shout out to honoring the marriage vows. Mostly I'll take the opportunity to brag about my husband, who is not only faithful, but witty, charming, feisty, a great listener, usually courteous (at least to me), a raging liberal, and, in certain light and with the proper growth of beard, a dead ringer for Brett Favre.
Comments
And referring to really listening? I don't know if you've noticed, but whenever we're at a gathering where you're talking and somebody interrupts you, I notice and TRY to always say, "What were you saying Amy?" Course, I TRY to do that most times anyway. 'Cause, unless someone is being excitedly supportive, interrupting CAN mean that person doesn't think at some level...even if UNINTENTIONALLY) what you (or me or whomever is speaking) is of any importance.
Your loving sister, Anne