Creating Your Credo

Have you ever thought about creating your own personal “credo”?  Your credo is a kind of manifesto of your belief system; it is your own guide to live your unique life created by you. Included in your credo could be philosophical thoughts you have come upon that resonate for you, or values that have grown in importance to you as you experience your daily life, or perhaps lessons you have embraced that others have shared.  There is really no precise list for inclusion when you create your credo.  The only thing that matters is that your credo is meaningful to you.

What brings you joy? What elevates your bliss? Is it time to reevaluate the prescribed ways you have lived that are based on other’s expectations or societal rules?  Reevaluating and creating your current credo can be an opportunity to examine your ways of thinking about your life and to realign your actions with your evolved perspectives. It is always possible to start over.

So how to begin…?  For instance, if you are a person who likes to journal, in that case you can create your credo as part of your journal or in a separate journal. You can make it a  practice to write about a “lesson” learned during the past week or new thoughts of wisdom you have discovered. A journal is a great way to explore your personal growth and to reflect on what is and what is not working for you. If you are not a journal keeper, you can use other means for expressing your revelations such as by sharing evolving ideas in therapeutic settings or with a close trusted friend or partner. Perhaps through other creative pursuits like art or music, your credo will be cultivated.  

Your credo is an ever-changing creation that fosters living your authentic life.  Your credo is a fluid creation that promotes living an intentional life.  Hopefully by creating your credo, and reexamining and changing it as you wish, you will have more happiness in your life. Living a life grounded in your beliefs, not the expectations of others is at the core of personal creative growth.

Linda Joy Walder