One of my favorite authors is John Eldredge.  He wrote "The Sacred Romance", among others I have enjoyed.  In "The Sacred Romance" he writes:

"Life, said Woody Allen, is divided between the horrible and the miserable.  A cynical assessment perhaps, but if we're honest we'll have to admit our journey is hardly along the primrose path.  Pretending that life is easier and more blessed than it really is hinders our ability to walk with God and share him with others.  Faith is not the same thing as denial.  Blessings come, to be sure.  But they tend to be infrequent, unpredictable, and transient.  In the day to day pattern of things, our journey is shaped more often by "dragons and nits"-crises that shake us to the core and persistent troubles that threaten to nag us to death.  Dragons and nits:  Are they tragic events and random inconveniences, or are they part of the plot through which God redeems our heart in very personal ways?"

I strongly suspect that if we ask God to use all the dragons and nits to redeem us and place ourselves in his hands the best we can at any moment (which is sometimes not very well at all)....he lovingly uses all the tragic events and random inconveniences to redeem us.  But, if we demand he give an account of himself for allowing our life to be difficult, or for allowing unfairness to occure or insist that He make our life pleasant, if we turn cynical and bitter the redemption can fail to take place.  It is then that life seems the most absurd.

Here are my 10 values. These are listed order of importance, although I struggled with thinking that perhaps 1 and 2 should change places and perhaps 3 and 4 should change places.  Finally, I decided that although those items SHOULD change places, I was being honest leaving them as they are.

1.  intimate, wholesome relationships with family, friends and neighbors.  I want to create strong, community in my life.

2.  love and honor God in life.  see God's hand at work in everyday life.  Feel I have God's guidance in my life.

3.  career/work that is enriches the lives of others and my own life. seek to practice professional excellence.

4.  financially stable/secure - able to have a pleasant but small home, dependable, simple car, able to save modestly for a simple retirement, able to provide a gift of inheritance to those I leave behind, able to enjoy simple hobbies such as craftmaking and travel such as camping and hiking.

5.  be a safe haven for others - physically, emotionally and spiritually.  Provide others with a comfortable home, a wise and loving listening ear, a place to feel loved.

6.  share resources and time with those in need.  extend hospitality and give time to help others in need.

7.  practice a natural, globally sustainable/healthy/egalitarian lifestyle.

8.  love to learn...I will be always learning studying to understand spiritual things, psychological things, and the world in which we live.  I will share these things with others as they desire to know.

10.  have a simple, healthy personal style in which I eat healthfully, prepare tasty, healthy food, make a simple but attractive home, enjoys outdoor hobbies/and activities, keep physically fit, and spend time in creative homemaking pursuits.

Got a date tomorrow with a person I don't really want to see.  How do I get myself into these things.  Praying we can add to each other's life somehow and that it won't be a wasted day.

Lord, show me how to love and encourage tomorrow even with someone who is hard to be with.  In the future, maybe I should learn how to say no when I don't want to go.  Deep sigh.