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The theme for this year’s World Values Day is Values for Community.
Our values guide us to understand the good from the not-so-good, and the right from the not-so-right. They are the principles that we use to define and live our lives on. These chosen values help us make responsible decisions in our lives and act in alignment with these values.
At times, we may be in a situation that forces us to rethink our values or act in a way that may be contrary to our values. In those moments, we are faced with an internal dissonance or discord with ourselves on how we must act. To avoid such dissonance and help our mental and emotional wellbeing, we should think and act as per the values we choose to live by.
What is a community? Community to me is all about connections. It is the connections that we make with others on a mental, emotional, physical, social, intellectual and spiritual level. These connections usually navigate the boundaries of age, gender, caste, race, economy, interests, etc. and still manage to bring people and keep them together.
The world as we know it today is a haven of diversity, everywhere we look. Our food, clothes, lifestyles, cultures, language, religion, etc.; all of these are unique to a community or group of people. With the advent of social media, our world is a much smaller place and we can reach out to people and communities across the globe, sitting in our own homes. We can explore, learn and enhance our knowledge and even change our lives for the better from those different from us.
Yet, at the same time, it is this diversity that has given rise to many conflicts amongst people. Conflicts based on religious and political ideologies, lifestyles, and identities are easy paraphernalia used to create distractions and conflicts amongst communities.
In times like these, where there is negativity all around us, our values give us hope and positivity to do the right thing. Our values may also be different from those of our friends and family. How do we align our values to those of people around us, especially if our own values may change and evolve in our lifetime due to different circumstances? We human beings live together and connect socially with different individuals as a choice. Having family, friends and others around us to turn to when we’re in a crisis helps us get back on our feet faster, and helps our self-esteem and attitude in a positive manner. Such connections enhance our social wellbeing enormously and help make us feel a part of a larger community and enhance our quality of life and relationships.
The question to ask here would be, if values vary between any two individuals, how can we understand, imbibe and work together for the values for an entire community? How do we cohesively uplift and uphold the values for a community and at the same time align with the values we’ve chosen or ourselves individually for a deeper and positive impact on each one of us?
Whether it is the COVID pandemic and the quest for vaccinations, the Sudan drought and conflict, the Russia-Ukraine war, the environmental disasters due to climate change and many more events across the world – all of them have shown us that the world needs communities to come together for the greater good. It has also shown us that values-driven projects are almost always successful in their objectives to help communities in dire need and emerge stronger.
Every time a community goes through a crisis – be it environmental, geo-political, or even religious, we have seen that taking action on values to support a community be able to get through those tragedies and challenges is the best way forward. It is important that we take not only action on our chosen values as an individual but also act on values to empower those around us in various communities.
Values such as compassion, empathy, courage, collaboration, sustainability, inclusivity, equality and gratitude are but a few from the vast laundry list of human values that have invigorated individuals to come together and work towards the transformation and betterment of their communities.
We can take great insight from heartful projects in the UK and Australia that help young children from daycares and kindergartens connect with the elderly in care facilities regularly. These programs have proven that such conversations and interactions not only help boost the self-esteem of the elders but also help promote friendships and social skills in the children. Similarly, group play activities in Japan, intergenerational music orchestras in New Jersey and celebrating cultural and religious festivals together with community elders in India help get the young and old together. These interactions help us learn and share knowledge, better our relationship skills, practice empathy and create happier individuals and community spaces around us.
Whether it is working for the equal rights of women in workplaces or of the LGBTQ community, helping all individuals with opportunities to realize and fulfill their dreams and reach their full potential in life is significant if we want to create a holistic and all-inclusive community.
The basic Indian philosophy of Sewa talks about service to humankind as divine service (“Nar Sewa Narayan Sewa”). The various Sewa organizations and Sewa cafes in India, US, Middle East, Australia and many more countries around the world work on this very principle of a selfless act, to help the less privileged human beings and animals and protect those in need.
Happy social relationships are very crucial for individual wellbeing and a healthy community overall. Social networks such as family and friends, neighbours and workplace colleagues, and other local engagements for the community are all related to our individual happiness. Living and working in and for such healthy communities enhances our individual wellbeing and also gives us a sense of purpose in life.
Hence, it is essential that along with being mindful of our individual wellbeing, we must also focus on the overall wellbeing of communities around us. The best way to achieve this is by acting on our values for ourselves and our communities.
“Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” is a Sanskrit phrase found in Hindu texts such as the Maha Upanishad, which means "The World Is One Family". This phrase talks of an all-inclusive attitude and focuses on the concept of unity in diversity in communities.
This World Values Day, let’s all strive to come together and take positive action on our values for ourselves as well as our communities – for a joyful world!
This blog post was created as a part of the World Values Day global campaign and is also available to read at https://valuesalliance.net/connecting-communities-through-values-one-world-one-family/.
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