4-10 April 2016

Nobility – Characteristic / Virtue of the Week

Be the change you wish to see in the world.

Nobility – What does this card say to you today?

This is an uncommon word in today’s world however it’s quite simple in it’s meaning. My understanding of this card is that we are all born equal in the sense that we all have the gifts of character in us – the virtues – kindness, caring, compassion, understanding, responsibility, generosity, courage, patience, honesty and many more.

What we do with this character traits are then up to us – we can choose to live by our highest integrity or we can choose not to – we make decisions all day every day that take us on the higher path or easy path.

Life can be deceptive and what seems easy right now actually isn’t, it’s harder down the track, and what seems harder now becomes easier down the track. For example discipling children by setting boundaries – if boundaries are established at an early age children will learn to live by them, however if boundaries are not implemented when a child is young it can be very difficult to set them later in life and expect others to live by them when it is a new concept to them.

How to practice Nobility:

For young adults & adults:

• Become aware – be mindful of how you feel and become more self aware – you’ll know when you are living by your highest values or taking the easy path.
• Strive to practice the virtue necessary for you to live life to your fullest. You’ll be happier when you do.
• Be gentle with yourself – don’t beat yourself up about whether you made a mistake. Learn from it and do something different next time.

For child care centres & schools:

• If you are aware that what a child is saying is not the truth ask them ‘are you being honest?’
• Tell them the story of ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’ and ask them why it is important to be truthful at all times
• Discuss nobility and bullying – ask if someone is being noble if they are bullying someone else, or if they are being noble if they watch it and don’t get help. How would they feel if they were the one being bullied and everyone was just watching or ignoring the situation.

For families:

• Speak to each other with courtesy
• Treat each other with the respect you would like them to treat you with
• When making family decisions practice detachment & do what is right for everyone, remove all personal interests

For businesses & organisations:

• Always consider how the customer would like to be treated
• Do what is right, the company may lose in the short term but win in the long term
• Be a leader, not a follower – lead by example