A Value Rich Life

I was listening to a radio discussion about how best to choose the foods for your supper each day. The examples they gave depended on what is important to you as an individual. While listening, it struck me that more important than helping you pick a potato over an eggplant, choosing your foods based on what you value in life is a great metaphor for the rest of our lives. For example, if you value community, you'll find a fresh food market. If you value a landscape dotted with farms, you'll buy locally. If you worry about pesticides, you'll buy organic. If you value fresh, you'll buy seasonally. If you value the process, you'll grow some of your own food. We usually vary our choices, depending on our circumstances. My point is how does this variety of choices apply to our jobs, families, consumption, health, pleasurable activities, or even our choice of wardrobe? Each choice is based on something we value, either subtlely or more obviously. When we make choices that are out of line with our values, we suffer and so does the world around us. It sometimes takes a bit more time and attention to live a "value rich" life but you will truly be richer for the effort.