My Number One Value

A number of years ago, I was asked about my number value. I didn’t have an answer right away. It was a question I had never considered before:

“What is important to me? What do I value?”

After reflection, I realized my answer was integrity. I wanted harmony between my inner world and how I showed up. I wanted to “be impeccable with my word,” like Don Miguel Ruiz teaches in The Four Agreements.

What this has meant has expanded over time, and I have found myself interested not only in integrity but also on the authenticity of that integrity—ensuring it reflects who I truly am.

Authentic integrity has come to mean harmonizing my life with the needs and desires of my essential self. Guided by love, mindfulness, and contemplation, I navigate a path that feels genuinely mine.

To know what it means to live an authentic life has caused me to explore and consider such things:

• What exactly are my values?

• In what ways am I making authenticity and vulnerability welcome in my life?

• Bringing light to my shadows. Examining the many parts of my self.

• Uncovering my boundaries and learning to communicate them

• Learning to practice self-compassion

• Examining my self-worth and ways I get in my own way

What it means to live an authentic life and to live it out loud continues to expand and deepen for me.

What does it mean for you? In your own journey in living your authentic life what have you had to consider and explore?