LIVING WITH A VOW
When we talk about making a vow, we don’t mean making an unbreakable contract or a promise like a marriage vow. Rather, a vow is an intention to which we can continually reorient ourselves when we’ve gone astray in our lives. A vow anchors our life to what matters most for us.
Discovering Core Values
Place your hand over your heart, or wherever it feels comforting to remind yourself to bring warmhearted awareness to your experience and to yourself.
Now imagine that you are near the end of your life, looking back on the years between now and then. Looking back, what would have given you deep satisfaction, joy and contentment?
What values did you embody that gave your life meaning? In other words, what core values were expressed in your life? Examples are: compassion, generosity, honesty, courage, loyalty, family, service, curiosity and nature.
Making a Vow
Please select a primary core value that you would like to manifest for the rest of your life.
Write it in the form of a vow:
– May I…
– I vow to…as best I can.
Loving-kindness phrases can also be life vows, such as “May all beings be happy and free from suffering.” Or, “May I learn to love all beings.”
You can orient your heart and mind to your core values every morning before you get out of bed. Just put your hand on your heart and say your vow a few times, and then get up. You can do the same before you go to sleep. Sometimes it helps to have a little ritual, such as lighting a candle when you make your vow.
Do you wish you meditated more? If you use a vow in your daily life, like using your breath as an anchor for your meditation, your whole life becomes a meditation!
Adapted from Hayes, Strosahl & Wilson, 2003.