Discovery of Core Values

1. Discovery of Core Values

2. Discovery of Core Values Questions • What makes you visit a sick friend in the hospital rather than stay at home watching TV? • What makes you give away money to a poor man, the money you had set aside for a movie with your friends? • Why do we have the extra-curricular activities like NSS, SAF, CSA, Red Cross, Sports and Games? Fr. Thomas Thennady

3. What do we mean by Values? • Value means something that has a price, worthwhile, precious and dear and one is ready to suffer for it and if necessary die for it too. • They reflect your choices, attitudes, judgments, behavior, relationships, thoughts, feelings and actions. • They are like rails that keep a train on track. Fr. Thomas Thennady

4. How Important are Values Values provide answers to important questions such as: What do I really care about? What kinds of activities, people, and environments do I most want in my life? So it is very important identify and clarify our values, question, evaluate, confirm or change them. That clarity will give us motivation. That will make our life worth living and productive. Fr. Thomas Thennady

5. How Important are Values • Today there is so much of value conflict, confusion and dilemmas and people are so confused how to deal with them. • Corruption, oppression of the poor, terrorism etc. • Lack of adequate role models • Very narrow communalist, casteist, linguistic and regionalistic outlook. • Utter disrespect for women A life without values will be chaotic. Fr. Thomas Thennady

6. Value Clarification Exercises Visualize a life situation where five patients need five different organs urgently or they will die. • Will you allow a man on the road to be killed to supply the organs so that one death can give life to 5 people? • Will you allow a very sick patient (and perhaps dying) to be killed for his organs to be used? • Will you allow a murderer to be hanged and use his organs? Fr. Thomas Thennady

7. Value Clarification Exercises Imagine that you are going to buy a pair of shoes. The salesperson shows you a pair of shoes priced Rs 7000 with 5 years’ warranty. There is another option: A pair of shoes priced Rs 2000 with only one year warranty. Which one will you go for? And why? Fr. Thomas Thennady

8. Value Conflicts • A boy and girl from lower and upper castes fall in love and want to marry each other. But parents oppose it! • Religions that speak about love but engage in war? Spread the message of hate? • A boy was caught stealing white paper sheets from the school office. The boy’s father was summoned, and was shocked when he came to know what his son had done. He told the principal, “I just don’t know why he did it. I work in a government office, and get him as much white paper as he wants.” Fr. Thomas Thennady

9. Value Conflicts An old almost-blind lady wandered into a colony of palatial house, and could not find her way back, could not explain where her house was. It was getting dark, and starting to drizzle. Every wealthy house-owner was anxious to see that she somehow goes away from their colony, because her presence itself was obviously pricking their conscience. A house under construction had a young watchman who gently took the lady to the site, spread out his bedding under the veranda, gave up his dinner to her, and went and lay down in the sand heap. Who was the richest person in that colony? Fr. Thomas Thennady

10. Value Conflicts • Father wanted to quietly steal and looked left and right before picking up the object to ensure no body was looking. Then he heard the voice of his son, “daddy, did you look up?” • A person may not take another person’s money, but do not mind cheating on income tax. Fr. Thomas Thennady

11. Value Clarification Process Value clarification consists of the following processes • Choosing freely not as a consequence of pressure from anyone. • Choosing from the alternatives after considering the various possibilities. Eg; how would you want to spend your weekend… many options • Prizing and cherishing our choice, esteem it, respect it and hold it dear to us. • Public affirmation. When occasions arise to share our convictions, to stand up for what we believe, to voice our opinions in public. • Acting according to one’s voice. Not just intentions, should be shown in action • Acting with a pattern, repetition, and consistency. Fr. Thomas Thennady

12. Kinds of Values Kinds of Values: 1. Personal Values: Those cherished and practiced within oneself. Example: ambition, cleanliness, contentment, courage, creativity, determination, diligence, excellence, honesty, punctuality, confidence, motivation and simplicity etc. Fr. Thomas Thennady

13. Kinds of Values 2. Social Values: brotherhood, concern for environment, friendship, hospitality, service, sharing, tolerance, sympathy and team spirit etc. Fr. Thomas Thennady

14. Kinds of Values 3. Moral and Spiritual Values: Faith, obedience, prayer and truthfulness etc. Fr. Thomas Thennady

15. Important Questions Before doing anything ask these two questions: • What will my mother think if she came to know I am doing this? • How will I feel if this action of mine is published in the news papers tomorrow? Fr. Thomas Thennady