Yesterday I was perusing blogs when I came across a great list of "12 Things you can do to help Michigan again find its greatness". One item from the list really struck a chord with me. When I was commenting on the blog about that item, I felt I had more to say than just a quick comment, so the thought crossed my mind that maybe it would be a topic for one of my future blog posts. Here is the item that started this journey:
Cement your convictions. If you cannot make a snap decision based on your core principles, perhaps they are not what you truly believe. Understand WHY certain guide posts should be important to you. KNOW that the best decisions can be made when you are not relying on an emotional state to make them. If you have solid CORE beliefs, you will likely never have to apologize or feel uncomfortable taking a position, or making a stand. ~Jason Gillman
Then later in the day I was on another website and saw the following quote that also resonated with me:
"It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them." ~Alfred Adler
Okay I am a blonde, but not so dense that I need a bolt of lightning to hit me to see the direction I was being pointed toward. Time to talk about examining principles!!
I am a firm believer in periodically re-examining your principles and values. Just because you felt one way about something, doesn't mean you will always feel the same way. I started off my political identity as a Democrat. When I got to college, I really thought about various issues and examined what I truly believed and realized that I was a Republican. (Strange huh? Most kids that switch parties in college go from being a Republican to being a Democrat)
So many people I talk to have never really examined their principles and values. They identify with a certain party because their parents do. Or they base their political party preference on their feelings about just one issue. No party can be summed up into one issue. There are Pro-Life Democrats and Pro-Choice Republicans.
If you don't periodically examine your principles and values, how can you properly follow them or defend them? I have found a great way to start this process is taking a political spectrum quiz. It will ask you a number of questions on diverse subjects. At the end it will plot where you fall in the political spectrum on a graph. CAUTION: The end result plotting of where you fall in the political spectrum is practically meaningless. The much more important part of this exercise is the questions themselves. Looking at a number of questions and figuring out exactly how you feel about them is where the true value lies.
Michigan has been hit hard economically and Michigan Republicans have also taken a hit in the last election cycles. Major changes like this can change us in ways we don't realize. If you don't examine your principles and values from time to time, how can you tell if they have changed? What are your CORE beliefs and why?
As Socrates said, "An unexamined life is not worth living".
Yes this will take time to do and we all lead busy lives. However shouldn't making sure you fully understand your core principal values and beliefs be worth making the time? Once you know your true core principal values and beliefs, you should never have to apologize or feel uncomfortable taking a position, or making a stand regarding them. Until all Michigan Republicans proudly admit and defend being Michigan Republicans, things cannot improve.
Here is a link to a political spectrum quiz http://www.gotoquiz.com/politics/political-spectrum-quiz.html
And here http://michigantaxes.com/wordpress/?p=2274 is the blog posting that started today's rant :)
