Placing of values

I was reading an article for one of my classes when I came across this statement: "American society places a premium on youth, athleticism, independence, power, wealth, beauty, and achievement. Helping people look beyond these ubiquitous values and treasure the spirit that they and their loved ones bring to our world--a spirit uniquely theirs that transcends the mundane issues of how one walks or talks or eats or looks or thinks--can be tremendously rewarding" (Gehlert & Brown). The article itself was talking about chronic illness and disability, but I found that this statement rang true regardless of one's health or ablity. It relates to what I wrote in an earlier blog post about how I feel like American society is a bit misguided in placing their values into things that seem very superficial to me. Now I'm not saying that I do not fall victim to these as well. I myself have often sought beauty, achievement, independence, and wealth (maybe not so much the other "values" however). Then I think, at the end of my life, is any of that going to matter? Will I look back on my life and mourn the fact that I wasn't beautiful enough or rich enough? Maybe. But just the thought of that alone points out that right now I may be placing my values into the wrong things.

I also like the second part of that statement. It takes about spirit, not so much in a religious or supernatural sense, but in the way people have survived, thrived, and overcome. As someone studying the social sciences, I have come across countless stories of people who have overcome hardships and impairments to live a fuller life than their "normal" counterparts. The point is, I'm hoping to be able to do this someday. I'm hoping that one day, I can re-align my values with something else and help others to look at life in a different way. Maybe by doing this, we can learn to appreciate uniqueness and variation rather than chase after things we "can't take with us" when our lives are over.

More on this idea as I go along.