When I was 18, my Philosopher Dad gave me a book that was written by Dr. M. Scott Peck called The Road Less Traveled.
Back in the 70s, that book was considered to be ‘A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values, and Spiritual Growth.’
The book changed the course of my life, at a time when I was struggling to see what kind of future I wanted.
Once I read the book, I decided to not follow my peers to university to pursue a degree. Instead, I hopped on a train and travelled from the east coast to the west coast of Canada and launched a broadcasting career.
I had some regrets about that decision for a while – mainly because of the social constructs that tell us our value is attached to how many degrees we earn, the titles we have, and how many letters come after our name. If you don’t fit that mold, your inner dialogue can be pessimistic.
That negative self-talk fed my addictions for a long time. I felt depressed, anxious, frustrated, and irritable most days. Alcohol and other drugs made life bearable for me. I finally realized I was living my life on autopilot, by default, instead of by intention.
What’s a life of intention? It’s asking for what you truly want from this brief, precious gift of life we’ve been given. How many people truly stop and take the time to ask & answer the question, “What do I want?”
We, in the Western World, are the most stressed, depressed, overweight, and over-medicated population in history. The numbers provide a clear picture that most people are dissatisfied – with their jobs and with their overall satisfaction in life.
Life can be mundane. Depending on the role you play, you’re likely following the same routine: going to work, getting groceries, and doing countless other errands. If you add children to the mix, you’re shuttling them to various activities, getting them to do homework, getting them to minimize their screentime, getting them to bed at a decent hour, etc.
Somewhere in that mix, you might even have some time for yourself before heading off to bed at a decent hour yourself. When you wake up, the same cycle begins the next day. When you follow the road less travelled, you’ll start asking the difficult questions about what you truly want in your life.
I encourage you to start asking and answering these questions to help you define your core values:
What do I want in my life? Why do I want it? What am I doing about it? How do I feel about what I’m doing about it? What can I do differently to get what I want? What would changing what I do and getting what I want to make me feel?
If you’d like a copy of the worksheet to “Define Your Core Values,” send Tanya an email at: redroofrecovery@gmail.com