At the Core

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“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.” – Henry Ford

Last weekend we drove about 15 minutes down to Shilshole Bay on Puget Sound to see a dock where sea lions like to congregate. It was packed with sea lions – usually a dozen on the dock and I counted a least a dozen more swimming in the water.

Every once in a while, a sea lion would launch itself out of the water in an attempt to land on the dock. The new weight would make the dock roll one way or the other causing all the sea lions to bark. But there was one sea lion in the center who was doing most of the work to keep the dock level. It would lift its head high and shift its weight this way or that to stabilize the dock again.

It made me think of how impactful what is at the center is. As I was pondering what was at my core, Life, in that beautiful way that sometimes happens, delivered the answers to the question I’d just uncovered. In this case it was through the latest the Unlocking Us podcast about living into our values. In it, Brené Brown had an exercise to determine our core values.

Her research shows that when in a tight spot, most people call on their one or two go-to values. So on her site, there is a pdf of about 120 values. Her recommended approach was to circle the ones that called to you and then distill them to the two values that encompass what is central for you. It may change over time but this exercise was to identify what is key for right now.

Doing the exercise, I came up with faith and usefulness. Faith, which for me encapsulates confidence, courage, adventure, integrity, spirituality, openness, love, optimism and gratitude. Usefulness I thought did a good job of rolling up my other values of reliability, learning, kindness, growth, family, and independence,.

Over the years I’ve done a lot of work to strengthen my physical core. It has enabled me to carry heavy loads up mountains and I feel it most now when I hoist my toddler onto my shoulders. But thinking about my core values, faith and usefulness, I realize that they are what I go to again and again to power me when I have to dig deep. Like with the sea lions, when I am living into my values, they are the center that brings me back to level when the world is rocking.

13 thoughts on “At the Core”

  1. “Faith, which for me encapsulates confidence, courage, adventure, integrity, spirituality, openness, love, optimism and gratitude.” Me as well Wynne, and . . . “the greatest of these is love”

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  2. This is very useful for people who are conscious of the choices they make and the thoughts which propel them to.

    For people who haven’t started this work, unfortunately they base their decisions on fear-based factors. I know because I did this too. Fear can override our ability to remain calm and to make decisions in peace.

    Even devout Christians can still be fear based, depending upon what they have internalized about themselves and the nature of God!

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      1. Right?! That came from observations of what I had seen in my past. No one is above needing to do inner work because we all have something to work on! 😉

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  4. Faith and usefulness are two wonderful core values, Wynne! Good for you for identifying those and also thanks for sharing the resource, I’m gonna have to take a look.

    I also like how you recognize the importance of both building a good physical core as well as an inner core. Both work together so well.

    And how awesome you can see sea lions for free just like that! We have to go to MarineLand over here and pay to see them. 😆

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    1. It was a fun exercise. I’m not sure I could have boiled it down to those two unless I worked all the way through it.

      The dock that these sea lions rest on is pretty close to the salmon runs that lead to the spawning grounds. Seattle used to have a sea lion named Hershel that would just hang out and pick off salmon as they went to spawn or were young fish heading out to sea. The naturalists tried to do everything they could to get rid of him – like they shipped him to California and 3 months (or something) later, he was back. I guess we’ve learned to live with them (and hopefully the salmon have too)!

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      1. Ahh, that makes a lot of sense why the sea lions are there then. A good and convenient source of sushi for them! 😆

        I will work on the values exercise this weekend. Curious to see mine now too. So thanks!

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      2. Ha, ha, ha – sushi! Exactly. Can’t wait to see what you come up with from the values exercise. I thought it was really fun and hope you enjoy it too!

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  5. Beautiful post, Wynne.
    I don’t know how you come up with such insightful posts every day. Kudos!
    At my core are my spirituality, positivity, and a firm belief that there is goodness in our world.

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  6. What a great honor it is to receive that compliment from you, Chaya! Thank you for being willing to participate in my own learning and processing of the beautiful world we are in.

    I love how you include “a firm belief that there is goodness is our world.” And with your spirituality and positivity at your core, you make it so! Thank you for sharing that with me and being part of my journey! Sending my best – Wynne

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