The Sphere of Mankind – The Shell

The Shell

The shell of the sphere is a thin but important cover that encases and completes all 16 slices to make up the sphere. It is what holds us together, giving us direction and overall purpose in our lives. This shell can be divided up into two east and west hemispheres, so each of the 16 slices has equal parts of each hemisphere.

The two hemispheres are similar to the functions of a riverbank. They, together guide and give direction to the water that flows between them. The stronger these riverbanks, the faster and the better the flow of the water. These two hemispheres are your Values and Principles.

So what are your Values and Principles and why are they different from one another?

The answer to this is more technical than practical but let me unpack it like this.

Principles

There are many different laws that govern how we live our everyday lives. There are the laws of science and nature. The law of gravity, aging, hormone cycles, seasons, time, chemistry, thermodynamics etc. All of these make us a complex world that we live in and co-exist with as these laws function around and sometimes through us. We have very little control over them, but as we learn more about their rules, we can learn to understand and accept them, making them a part of our accepted principles.

There are also the laws of the land. Those laws were passed by the government in the country in which we live. These include business regulations, taxation, transport, immigration and on and on. All these laws are also a part of our daily lives. How we understand these and accept them as a part of the way we will live, forms a part of our accepted principles.

So, your personal principles are a subset of a larger set of principle laws that exist. Each one of us has their own set that we abide by and live with. These give us the one side of our riverbank that guides us through all our actions each day.

Values

Values, on the other hand, are a unique set of internal laws that we adopt and learn from our upbringing and include into our own lives. These may change during each stage of our physical and emotional development, but there will remain a solid core of values that remain important and central to us all.

The challenges come when we blend with others who have different values. This could be in a personal relationship or in a business or work environment. Our values will not match, so a new set of blended and adapted values is created that is then used for a future guide.

These values form the second bank of our river and with both well-defined, our river of life will flow being given direction and guidance from our adapted and accepted Principles and Values.

What are your own Values? How well have you adapted and adopted the Principles into your own life?