Interesting topic.
My values that I want to live by (off the top of my head):
- Health - physical, mental, spiritual - I think this is the cornerstone of everything else.
- Integrity/Honesty - This one is important to me, can't put into words the "why".
- Freedom - like the original poster, I want to be totally responsible for my life, and I want to embrace my freedom to make my own choices and paths. I also feel like the only way I will truly be happy is "doing my own thing" on my own terms.
- Compassion, Empathy - I want to always try to understand where others are coming from, without judgement.
- Respect - for myself and others, again without judgement.
- Joy, Play!
Letting my creative inner spirit out to play as often as possible. Doing things that make me giggle. Having fun.
- Learning, Growth - I enjoy learning new things. And I'm constantly trying to grow and improve myself, not out of "shoulds" but because I really do believe that as we grow, our quality of lives becomes better.
I'm sure I'm leaving off something.
How I'm actually living - I'm falling a little short... I'm finding it hard to actually put my ideals into practice, though I'm making (slow) progress on some of these. Clearly way too much fear, judging, and using sugar to deal with stress going on
But I keep trying...