Personal Billboards

My first personal billboard is a license plate that reflects certain parts of my values, my personality, and my interests. I first chose the state of Hawaii, because I went on vacation to Maui and I fell in love with the island.  I chose to have a license plate from the 80's, because it reflects my love of 80's music. I would find both of these traits to be irrelevant in life and not have a high value. However, I chose the words "BE FREE" on my license plate. In other words, I wanted this to say be yourself, be open, and overall be free. A major priority of mine is to never feel held back. I think everyone should lead there own life, and not lead there lives according to others. This holds a high value to me.

My next personal billboard holds many strong personal values for myself. It reflects caring for others. First, having relationships, such as, family, friends, husbands, wives, sisters, and brothers, is vital to living a happy and healthy life. This symbol to me also reflects the importance of giving back to others. Finally, the last value this symbol says to me, is to not judge others. I live by the rule treat others the way you would want to be treated. All of these values are extremely important. I believe humans are social beings and are meant to interact with other, and if everyone held these values in life the world would be a much better place. If everyone cared for others as much as they cared for themselves.

My next personal billboard is the reason why I hold the values I listed up above to be so important in my life. This personal billboard reflects my religion. I'm Russian Orthodox and when I was baptized I received a cross necklace that looks very similar to this one. When I was in middle school and High School, I really did not have much appreciation for religion. In fact, I wasn't sure if I even believed in a God. However, after I researched more religions and discovered a bit more about my own. I realized that it didn't really matter what kind of God there is, or if there is even one out there. What matters is the things religion teaches. What matters is the values religion holds. I believe religion's values are very important to all of society, but what doesn't hold such a strong value to me, is what kind of religion someone is. The fact is, we're all human being living in this world. We should all treat each other with compassion and respect.

The next symbol doesn't so much expose my personal values, but rather, it exposes aspects of my life. I've been in swimming for most of my life. I've swam all the way from being a mini swimmer in my first swimming class to becoming a High School Varsity swimmer. I chose not to swim at Hamline University, but swimming still remains an important part of my life. I have been teaching swimming lessons for six years. Now, I am a Lead Water Safety Instructor, Lifeguard, and Water Aerobics Instructor. I chose a swimmer as one of my personal billboards, because it's often how I'm labeled. Others, might associate me with this category of being a swimmer, or a swimming teacher. Even though, this has remained an important part of my life I don't believe it to be a high value. I don't think judging others by what sport they are apart of, or what job they do to be of great importance. We should value others, not because of their associated social class, or popularity value. We should value others on their personalities and treatment of others. 

My last personal billboard is a dream catcher and it symbolizes my aspirations for the future. I think  everyone should aspire to do better. Everyone should have their own dreams for their own future. Having aspirations and dreams allows someone to work for something. It also symbolizes hope for a better future, which I believe is vital if someone is in a dark unhappy place in there life. I think dreams and aspirations can only make a human being better, which is why I hold it to be a high personal value. 

I think personal billboard are very effective and I believe it's a good way at examining who you are and what your highest values are. Overall, personal billboards can be used as a tool to show others what kind of person you are when you can't describe it to them yourself. I also think they can be used at showing yourself who you are and what you live by. Also, when making challenging decisions you can reflect on your values and choose the decision that mirrors them.