Lessons Learned - Goals, Values, and Ethics

I do not have traditional values. I think this comes from having so many clashes with family and other authority figures when I was young, and the ensuing stages of situational evaluation that came during adolescence. I am not religious, I do not conform to a single political ideology, I do not find comfort in pop culture movements. I also do not scorn others for spiritual leanings, a conviction in political values, or enjoyment of pop culture trends.

I have an unconventional relationship with my girlfriend, one which has it's roots in our shared troubles with divorced parents. I have socially liberal viewpoints with economic pragmatism and a belief that a system of leadership cannot be either good or evil. My faith in organized religion was broken when I saw how the historical injustices that were carried out in the name of deities, but were initiated by humans that took advantage of others... but I do not deny that there might be some higher power, just that it is a higher power that is too much to be summed up by a single mortal philosophy and ethos. I feel that the past two generation the preceded mine created one of the most selfish and arrogant world environments the human race has ever seen, but I do not think that there is nothing of value I can learn from individuals older than myself that offer to help my generation correct past mistakes. These are just some of the conclusions I have in my life that form my own core values and ethics.

My goals are set, but the path I take to get there is not a static one. I know what kind of person I want to be, and what I want to offer to everyone else. I learned in class that these concepts I have about my outlook are not wrong or have been found in strange ways, but that they only work when I stick to them and persevere.