Remembering your roots

It’s so funny now when I start preparing things for my garden memories come back of my parents and how much they loved and took pride in their gardens. I remember my mom trying to grow an avocado plant and taking the seed preparing it before she tried to plant it. I don’t remember that we ever had an avocado tree but that memory came back to me as I prepare the top of a pineapple to grow it in my garden. I’m sure that like me, she was excited about the possibilities of how the plant would grow and survive to bear fruit.

This week on the podcast, we spoke about our values. Janis, Julia and I chose our top 2 current life values from a list of many and discussed. What was really interesting was that we all had Authenticity as one of our values and agreed that it is something we all crave now with so much questionable information out in the world now. For me, this also applies to the people that are around me, obviously! Consistently working on being my best self, I want to surround myself with people who also know who they are and are clear on their values. No “frenemies” or phonies, just people who appreciate and lift each other up by caring enough to be honest, positive and really trust each other.

Coming back to the gardening, my parents had a strong influence on my values with how they lived their lives. They lived in service to their family and community and felt a sense of accomplishment from helping others grow. I didn’t appreciate these things about them growing up and didn’t understand how much they positively touched so many others until very recently when I started exploring the values that make up who I am today.

My top 2 values are: Authenticity and Self-Expression. These are the values that guide my life right now and help me navigate the path I’m on. Authenticity encompasses so many other important values to me: Honesty, Accountability, Leadership, Love, Stewardship and Vulnerability. Self-Expression is somewhat new to me ( yes, really!), but it serves me now because it is the product of achieving authenticity in my life and being able to give back and help others who want to find their way.

What are your top 2 values in life right now? Check out the below list and try the exercise. Just chose your top 10 to 15 values, then whittle it down by prioritizing the values most important to you. Don’t forget to share with me :)

Thanks for stopping by and hope you’re having a fantastic day!

Sayda