Power Lies In Your Values ​​

The best example that power lies in your values ​​is, without a doubt, Gandhi. He was able to fight a regime with his convictions, and he renounced all forms of violence. However, there are many everyday heroes with the same message: Power lies in your values. 

Throughout history, many people have encountered adversity simply to defend their beliefs. These people showed incredible strength. This strength comes  from within, from what is in our mind and heart. 

It does not come from having a physical or financial superiority. Instead, they are able to keep going, and they often succeed, because of their moral superiority.

It also happens in our daily lives. We are able to be confronted with unjust and shameful situations because our values ​​act as if it were a compass that guided us. 

The same happens with our goals, as we are able to achieve them when they are based on clear and defined values. This is where our strength comes from. It is this that enables us to keep fighting.

Why does power lie in our values?

Ethics is the deepest foundation of an individual. Values ​​make a society cohesive. This is because they allow interaction and coexistence. These agreements, both implicit and explicit, about what is good and desirable, as well as what is bad and undesirable, are what create the social structure.

According to Jean Piaget, autonomous ethics is one of the highest levels of moral development. We can only achieve this when our intelligence is developed enough. 

It is a product of a long maturation process that begins in anomie – the complete lack of values ​​we are born with – to autonomy, which is the ability to think for ourselves and reach our own conclusions.

In addition to their social importance,  ethics also play a significant role in an individual’s life. Ethics guides actions, and gives them meaning. Moreover, they give us strength to deal with adversity, and to not give up in difficult times.

For some, this ethic is based, or even dictated and mandated, by religion. Therefore, these people stick to their religious principles through difficult times. For others, their foundation is based on a particular philosophy, thesis, or belief.

Furthermore,  there are people who give up their values ​​and take a pragmatic, cynical attitude towards life. In the same way, they do not give meaning to their actions. Although they protect themselves from disappointments, by doing so, this also prevents them from living life to the fullest.

Behavior and your values

Human beings go through a process of evolution long before they build personal values. Not everyone reaches the end of this process. Many remain locked in a stage known as heteronomy. At this stage, the  child (or the adult) does not act on the basis of his or her own beliefs.

Instead, they are guided by what authority divers impose on them. What is right or wrong is decided by these divr, and the main goal of the person does not become contradictory with this figure of authority.

When moral development reaches the highest level, our only authority is our own conscience. Unlike the second stage, we do not adjust values ​​based on tradition, repetition, or because an authority figure says we should.

Our values ​​are a product of personal reflection, and can always go against what members of society support. In other words, they are autonomous.

Values ​​are opinions. They are attributes that envision desirable or worthy progress. Values ​​guide behavior, and make actions make sense. They impose a responsibility: Adjustment of the page that is considered correct or correct.

Ethics is flexible. It will always depend on a conscious evaluation of different situations. This is precisely why power lies in your values, because they depend on your own conscience, and do not come from external impositions or improvisation.

To reflect on our own perspective

There comes a time when it is appropriate for us to think about the values ​​that guide our actions. Sometimes, we stick to principles just because it’s a habit or a tradition, or because it’s what most people agree on.

Following external values ​​is exactly what makes us feel lost once in a while. Ethics allows our intentions and actions to be in line with each other, and it gives us the strength to go for what we really want.