This assignment was not for my Family History class, but instead for my English class. We read an article about the importance of defining our own governing values, and then writing them down. I really think that this is something that should be included in my Book of Remembrance. I want my children to know what values I thought were most important and wanted to live my life by. I wrote these as if I were my 'perfect' self. This way I know what I am striving for, and hopefully, if I were perfect, this is who I would be. It is definitely who I want to be.
My Governing Values
1. Heavenly Father comes first. I love him with my whole heart, soul, and
mind.
My
Heavenly Father means the most to me above all else. I trust in him to provide
for me, and I trust that by putting him first all other things in my life will
fall into place. I will abide in him and
in return he will abide in me. The will
of God will become my will. I know that
I am a child of God and that he loves me.
He has sent me to be tested, but that doesn’t mean that he is not with
me during those hard times.
2. Trust in the Atonement
The
Atonement of God is what allows me to be myself. It allows me to make mistakes and be forgiven
of them. It helps me realize that I am
only human and I cannot do everything, and that is ok. While the Atonement helps me realize I am
only human, it drives me to strive for perfection and to always be my better
self.
3. I am obedient
I have faith
that the Lord has given me commandments to help me return to him. He only has what is best for me in mind, and
has asked for my obedience in order to help me find happiness. Because I understand why my Heavenly Father
has asked for this, I am valiant! I do
not ask how bad I can be, but I strive to be valiant and obedient. I follow God’s commandments and I do it
happily.
4. I am a good wife
I
always strive to support and truly listen to my husband. I am intuitive to when he needs me most and I
provide comfort and help when he asks for it.
I make sure that his needs are provided for in terms of meals, a clean
home, and a happy wife. This doesn’t
mean that I don’t ask for help within the home when I need it. I make time to be with him and enjoy the time
spent. I provide spiritual support when
he needs it, and I make sure that we are equally yoked within our marriage.
5. I am a good, loving mother
I
provide for my children’s need in a mother.
I give them love and work hard to be an authoritive parent. I teach my children the importance of making
their own choices and discovering what consequences those choices bring. I
realize that I am raising my children to be adults, contributing members of a
society and will one day be the driving force in the world. My children know that no matter what I will
always love them unconditionally and that I do not expect anything but their
best in life. However, I hold them and cry with them when sometimes life lets
them down. My children know that I would
cross the I-beam for them in a heartbeat, and would do as many times as needed. I expect my children to respect me, not only
because I am their mother, but because I give them respect.
I
push my children to work hard and to value good work. I teach them the joys of
an education, and my own love of music and books. Most importantly I teach them to be
empathetic, compassionate, and to love God above all else. I provide for my children spiritually by
bearing my testimony often to them and helping them learn and apply gospel
principles. I stress the blessings of
being an eternal family and how happy I am that they are mine.
6. I am grateful
I have
gratitude for the blessings I enjoy. I
recognize the tender mercies I am given each and every day and I thank my
Heavenly Father daily for them. I also
write them down each day so that my children might know all that I have
received and see the goodness of God through it. I express gratitude to the people who have
helped me or made a difference in my life.
Those that I am close to feel appreciated because I strive to make them
understand the gratitude I have for them.
7. I have integrity
I
realize that integrity is one of the greatest gifts that I can give to
society. Integrity is what allows me my
freedom. I am not bound by the lies I have told, and the harmful things I have
done, because I never did them in the first place. I realize that my word is binding and that
trust must be built and kept. Integrity
is more than just not telling lies, it is an intrinsic part of me and it
motivates me to always do what is right, no matter what the situation.
8. I know that trials not only for my good,
but that they help me to ‘become’
Trials help me
to realize my inner strength and become stronger. Trials help me to realize the hand of God in
my life and become more dependent on him.
Trials make me see the good that I have, and they refine me into who I
want to be. Trials help me to become
closer to those that I love most in life, and they help me to work a little
harder to be a little better every day.
9. Financial Security and Peace are important
I
am financially stable. I put away
monthly for retirement so that my husband and I will be safe later on in
life. I have no debt except for education
and home, and I work hard to “snowball” those debts to pay them off
faster. I only spend money that I have,
and my money for needs is spent first. I
know that financial troubles can affect every aspect of life, and therefore to
have peace, I must be financially stable.
10. Education is a precious gift to be sought
after
I
love to learn. I read books to learn and
to be stretched. I continually strive
for more education, and I realize that good grades are reflective of hard work
and knowledge gained. I work hard to
constantly be learning because I know that what I have learned in this life is
the only thing that I take with me after I have died. Education is a gift, to be educated is to
know about the mysteries of life. From
reading, one can learn about all walks of life and all kinds of people. Knowledge allows us to connect to other
people, to better understand ourselves, and the teachings of God.
11. To know where I’m going, I must know where
I have been
I
respect my ancestors, and seek diligently to do their Temple work. I realize that without their choices and
sacrifices, I would not be blessed with many of the things I have today. I understand that they need me to enjoy the
blessings of Heaven, and I will not let them down.
12. I am passionate about music
Music
is my passion. It is what allows me to
feel talented, and that I truly have a gift.
It speaks to my soul and helps me to learn about myself and to channel
my emotions when they seem too much.
Music has been a form of language since the beginning of time and I have
the blessing to bring that language to others and to do the work of God through
this special talent.
I
know that music helps to develop admirable qualities in myself such as
discipline, hard work, and understanding.
It helps me to know the importance of setting goals within my passion
and to work to achieve new skills and learn new music.
13. I am happy and positive
I
am a happy individual and I am recognized as so. I go about with a smile on my
face and when others think of me, they think of me as one who is happy with my
life. I do not burden others with my
sorrows, but instead try to lift them up.
The world does not need to know my worries, God knows them, and he will
provide that every need is taken care of.
People want to be around me because they know that I will buoy them up
and be happy for their joys, and that I will not only complain about my
troubles.
14. Time management is important to me and I am
productive
I
manage my time well and use it to my advantage to accomplish the things I need
to. I don’t squander time on useless
things such as excessive social media, T.V. watching or game playing. I also understand the importance of
punctuality. I realize that by being
late to things I am being arrogant because I feel that my time is more
important than the people I was supposed to be on time for.
I plan each
day the things that need to be done and I do them. I do not waste time, and I do not lament that
I do not have enough time. I show my
family that I care about them by meeting their needs in a productive manor, and
I show others that I value them by producing quality work within the time frame
I am given.
15. I have self-respect
I
am not to blame for the things that go wrong in other people’s lives. I need to respect myself by not allowing
myself to take the blame. I have
self-respect because I understand the value that I have to my Heavenly Father
and the importance I have within my family.
My self-respect drives me to stay in control of my body, and to honor my
name.
16. I accept others for who they are and I do
not judge or gossip
I
accept those who may not live life the way I do. I do not mock them or judge them for their
choices because I realize that it is through God’s plan that we each have the
agency to make our own individual choices, and it is not my place to scrutinize
them. Gossip only stresses the bad in others and it does not promote the
spirit. Therefore I do not gossip and I
make sure that the things I say about others are positive and uplifting.
17. I have empathy and compassion, I look for
opportunities to serve
I am
empathetic to the plights of others. I
have compassion for them and truly look for ways to help them. I am always ready to serve and looking for
opportunities to serve someone, even in the smallest way.
18. I value good health
I
follow the word of wisdom to keep my body clean. I do not intake that which could be harmful
to my body because I know that my body is a Temple and I am expected to keep it
clean. I work hard to keep in good
physical condition because I know that it is important to be in the best health
to be a good mother and wife. I will not
be able to play with my children if my body is not in a condition to do
so. Without a healthy body, family
activities will be limited that I can participate in, and I want my children to
know I value my body as something special and that I take care of myself.
I
realize that cleanliness is part of good health and I work hard to keep myself,
my children, and my home environment clean.
My children are bathed regularly, their rooms kept tidy, and their
clothes washed often. I also prepare nutritional
meals for my family because I know it is important in young years to be fed
well and I want to give my children their best chance.
19. I take responsibility
I
know that when things don’t get done they are done because I didn’t do them, I
do not provide excuses to pass responsibility to someone, or something
else. I am responsible for my actions
and when I do something wrong I admit my mistake and I fix it. I do not tell fibs to cover my actions, and I
take charge to right my wrongs.
20. I value hard work and endure to the end.
I
know that the good things in life are earned, not given. I work hard for the things I have and what I
accomplish. I do not work to a lesser
quality than I know I am capable of, and I endure to the end. If I start something, I finish it. When trials come, I follow them through. I keep the goal in sight and I work hard to
reach it. I set goals because they help
me to remember the importance of what I am doing and to continue to work
hard. There is nothing sweeter than enduring
through hard work to obtain something well sou
