Value your life,
live your values
Your life matters, including on days when you can do very little.
Values are the qualities you want to bring to life: care, fairness, curiosity, kindness, connection or respect for the natural world. They can help you choose what matters when energy, health and circumstances limit what is possible.
Try a gentle values check-in Read family examplesLiving your values can include receiving help, resting, enjoying something or protecting your own needs. You are part of the world you care for.
What is a value?
A value is a direction you can return to. A goal is something you might complete.
Value: caring for the environment.
Possible goal: repair one item or reduce
one source of waste.
Small expression today: appreciate a bird
outside your window.
A value can stay important even when the action changes. Needing convenient meals, transport or disposable medical supplies does not cancel your care for the planet.
Lived experience: values in family life
These examples draw on experiences shared by an ALPIMS family. Anna and David are pseudonyms. The small ideas beneath each example are suggestions for readers, rather than additional claims about the family.
🌿 Caring for the environment
From family life: Environmental care and more self-sustaining practices were important family values. They offered a way to connect everyday life with care for the wider world.
Read more • small ways to express this
Use what you already have, repair or reuse something when manageable, or enjoy the natural world. Choose one practice that fits your circumstances.
Self-sustaining living can involve shared skills and support. It does not require doing everything yourself.
🦋 Caring for wildlife
From family life: Supporting wildlife was one way the family expressed concern for living things and the places they need to survive.
Read more • small ways to express this
Notice local birds, learn about an animal, or share an interest in nature with someone. If you have space and capacity, explore locally appropriate wildlife-friendly gardening.
Learning and appreciation are worthwhile forms of connection too.
🌏 Caring beyond our household
From family life: Supporting World Vision expressed care for people beyond the family’s own community.
Read more • small ways to express this
Care might take the form of learning, a manageable donation, practical support or listening to another person’s experience.
Giving should fit your budget and capacity. Compassion does not require spending money or taking on distressing news when you are overloaded.
🤝 Respect and fairness
From family life: Anna used overlapping circles to explain a family idea: “This is you, this is me, we meet respectfully in the middle.” It made space for different needs and perspectives.
Read more • small ways to express this
Ask, “What matters to each of us?” Make requests clearly, allow processing time and look for a workable shared plan.
Meeting in the middle is an invitation to understand one another. Consent, safety and essential boundaries still matter. Fairness may mean different support for different needs.
💬 Connection and being heard
From family life: Family dinner check-ins included something good about the day and something difficult that might need help. The psychologist called this “Are you there?” and the occupational therapist described a rose ceremony.
Read more • small ways to express this
Try one gentle question: “Is there anything you would like me to know about today?” A text message or a quiet moment together can also express connection.
Let people pass, answer briefly or use another way to communicate. Connection can be adapted to sensory needs and available energy.
🌱 Understanding and making life possible
From shared experience: The ALPIMS project reflects a wish to understand complex experiences, offer practical support and make information easier to use.
Read more • small ways to express this
Believe someone when they describe a difficulty, ask what would help, or make one task easier to access.
Understanding can include admitting uncertainty and seeking appropriate advice. We do not have to solve everything to respond with care.
When your capacity changes
Chronic illness, pain, sensory overload, neurodivergence or difficult life circumstances can change how you participate. You may grieve the activities you once used to express your values.
Open ideas • keep the value, adapt the action
- Nature: a walk might become a view through the window.
- Connection: hosting dinner might become a brief message.
- Learning: a course might become one paragraph or a short audio clip.
- Creativity: a large project might become choosing colours or collecting an idea.
- Care: helping someone might become receiving support and letting yourself recover.
On some days, there may be no action to take. Your worth and your values are still there.
A gentle values check-in
You can choose just one question. These are drop-down sections: tap a heading to open it.
1 • What matters to me right now?
Perhaps care, rest, joy, honesty, belonging, fairness, nature, creativity, learning, faith or independence. Your values may differ from those around you.
Try: “Today, I would like to make room for ______.”
2 • What is possible with today’s capacity?
Could this involve noticing something, receiving help, saying one sentence or taking one small action? Rest can be the choice that supports your health today.
Try: “A manageable expression of this could be ______.”
3 • Is this my value, or a rule I feel forced to obey?
“I care about helping” can turn into “I must always help, even when I am unwell.” The value can stay while the rule changes.
Try: “I can care about others and respect my limits.”
4 • What support would make this easier?
Someone could help with transport, planning, communication, physical tasks or a quieter environment. Supported participation still counts.
Try: “I could take part if ______.”
When values pull in different directions
You might value both environmental care and the convenience that makes eating possible. You might value family connection and need quiet. These are real decisions with real constraints.
Ask: “What is a kind, workable choice in these circumstances?” You can make a good-enough choice, ask for support and review it later.
Make room for joy, too
Values can include play, beauty, humour, friendship and enjoyment. They do not all have to involve helping, improving or being useful. A favourite song, a comfortable space or a moment with nature can be part of a meaningful life.
Explore more
Optional reading. Choose only what interests you.
- World Vision Australia — explore the organisation your family supported.
- WWF Australia — wildlife and environmental information. This is an optional resource; the precise wildlife organisation supported by the family has not been specified.
Related ALPIMS pages
Values check-in • Coming soon
Joy & quality of life • Coming soon
Supported participation • Coming soon
Support for everyday choices
Rest, pacing & capacity • Coming soon
Respectful family communication • Coming soon
Perfectionism & enoughness • Coming soon
What matters to you today—and what would help you make a little room for it?