Values…
 
Good morning dear reader & welcome to my world this week. Following my articles over the last two weeks on Relationships & Communications I thought we could develop this a little further again with some comments on values & community.

One morning recently I asked the question to myself, “What does the word values mean?” There were many responses in my mind, but the one I think most captured the true meaning of this word was; “Values are what make us who we are.” In other words, the things we strongly value reveal the kind of person we are. Our set of values is a summary of who we truly are. Values are those things in our heart which guide us through life; the things we consider most important, & they are revealed by the way we interact with life through our words, attitudes, & actions.

We get our set of values in different ways.Your parents have probably shaped your value system. It has likely also been influenced by teachers, peers, experiences, & society in general. Hopefully, each of us has a set of values, & hopefully this has been shaped through love & truth. Without a set of values, we are like ships without a rudder who are simply carried in whatever direction the wind blows; never really knowing who we are, never really being known & understood by others.

As a business, I like to think we have a set of core values; things we believe are of supreme importance in living the dream, well it is a dream for me. And today I want to begin by talking with you for a few minutes about the value of community.

The dictionary defines “community” this way: A unified body of individuals with a common character, with common interests, who share joint ownership & participation in something. As a business who embraces the value of community, I feel strongly there has to be unity between us, our customers & suppliers. We should all share a common character; one reflecting the character of our common interests & these are the values we are discussing.

And we should walk through life together sharing joint ownership of & participation in the values & mission we have been called to accomplish. This is I feel the technical definition of what community is, but it is much richer & goes much deeper than this.

When you think of community, you may picture in your mind early pioneers crossing the countryside in a wagon train to establish a new town on the frontier. You may think of a small, tightly knit hometown where everyone knows everyone else. You may think of a bar where when you walk in, & everybody knows your name, like Norm in Cheers. I was walking to an appointment on Tuesday thinking about community & how I would communicate with you about this.
 
And as if by divine inspiration I received a reply to an email I initiated earlier in the morning from the hospital. Some brief background, the previous Sunday week I experienced what they call an inappropriate event which necessitated a visit to my specialist. One thing I have learnt over the years, is people are typically not very responsive in providing unsolicited feedback & an update on how they are progressing. I did just this & the reply I received was perfect for me & to share with you.
 
Incidentally, I had advised completion of 132 lengths in the pool during the previous four days & how well & fit I felt. The response from Karen was: Hi Kenn, support you all the way!! The great thing about Nelson is the community we have and that our treatments can be individualised, not mass production like the bigger centres. What an excellent analogy to share with you & conclude this week.
 
Thank you for taking the time to be with me once again. I hope my journey may encourage you also. This is Kenn Butler in Paradise, Nelson, with my best wishes for another week… I look forward to being with you all again soon.
 
 


 
www.kennbutler.com