During the 2012 campaign, one of the most frequent complaints about Romney was that no one knew what his “core principles” were – or if he had any at all. But no one ever seemed to discuss what the core principles of the other candidates were, or even what core principles are supposed to be.
I think that we can all agree that words are not enough. Meteor Blades’ sig line is especially inspiring: “Don't tell me what you believe, show me what you do and I will tell you what you believe." Still, this many of us will need more than taking a look at what we’re actually doing to identify our core principles.
Some more over the fleur-de-kos:
Several years ago I participated in a small discussion group sponsored by the local UU church which helped me identify what in my life was most important to me. In a way it seemed strange to be choosing these priorities for myself – in many religious traditions and other societies they are handed to you by virtue of your age, sex and rank – but once I got over that slight hurdle, it was immensely liberating. I realized that I valued science and literature and have since organized my life so I spend more of my days either contributing to or supporting these areas. That does not mean that I don’t value other areas, but these are what matter to me, and where I feel I can – where I want most to - make a difference.
To determine your core principles, consider the following questions:
What (not who) do you love doing most?
What matters most to you?
What are your dreams? What do you want to achieve?
What are your talents? What talents do you lack?
Do you know others who can help you or join you? Working with others can make a difference.
The problems facing our families, our communities our country and even the world are enormous. We have so much rebuilding to do after the last three decades of Republican misrule.
Please, share comments and thoughts on your own core principles below.
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Tired of politics? Need to escape? Try my Greek mythology based novels, either the story of Oedipus from the point of view of Jocasta, or a trilogy about Niobe, whose children were murdered by the gods - or were they?