Yogi Berra once said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.” It’s just as important to know why you want to get there. Writing an essay about what you believe will help you identify the values that motivate you to achieve your goals and enable you to share those values with others.

Our beliefs underpin our everyday decisions and determine how we interact with other people. Unless we understand our core values, we may wonder how effective we can be in improving our community or environment; we may also feel awkward broaching environmental or political concerns with our friends and neighbors. Writing a short essay about what we believe is a rewarding way to better understand ourselves and affirm our aspirations. It also empowers us to articulate our goals to those around us by focusing on shared values.

Some of us spend hours arranging our layouts on Myspace and Facebook, writing blogs, and filling out Internet quizzes. These outlets give us a forum in which to express some of our beliefs to an audience of friends and strangers. However, such media frequently fail to capture the full breadth of our dreams, ambitions, values, and beliefs. So the next time your get the urge to jump online “just for a minute,” instead take up a pen and paper or use your computer writing application. Start with a blank page and title it “This I Believe.” When you’ve written out your beliefs, you can either keep the paper to refer back to, or you can choose to share your beliefs with others.

Jay Allison is the host of the NPR program, This I Believe, which airs essays submitted by people from all walks of life. “This is a time when belief is dividing the nation and the world,” says Allison. “We are not listening well, not understanding each other—we are simply disagreeing, or worse.” He adds, “[Sharing our beliefs allows us] to cross borders, to encourage some empathy. That possibility is what inspires me."

You can read or listen to some of these essays on the program’s website, thisibelieve.org, or you can submit your own. Educators and community coordinators will also find resources on this site for using the “This I Believe” essay format to bridge borders and inspire positive change.

Resources and References:

NPR’s radio program, This I Believe: www.npr.org or http://thisibelieve.org.

Michelle’s Earth Foundation, a website dedicated to Michelle Gardner-Quinn, whose “This I Believe” essay was read at the Live Earth concerts; Michelle was killed just two days after writing her essay: http://www.michellesearthfound.org.

Photo Source:

Original: http://www.flickr.com/photos/andre_mts/374880166/

Modified: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9472208@N08/1068784614/