~ Lord Byron
I’m sure that there are many instances in life where we’re surprised by what we find out about ourselves. At the very beginning of an online course that I took through Coursera, we were assigned to go to the VIA Institute online and do a survey to find out what our character strengths were. I’d never heard of the Institute before but was curious to find out what my character strengths might be. I thought that maybe I had a few!
VIA stands for Values in Action. Based on the answers you provide in the survey, VIA comes up with 24 character strengths. Number one is your top strength and number twenty-four your weakest. Having such a list to work with enables one to feel good about the ones that top the list and work at those on the lower end of the spectrum. My top strength was Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. What a surprise!
Lots of people like beautiful objects, natural surroundings, earth’s offerings of fruit and flowers, architectural wonders, and so forth. The Earth’s beauty is in itself a wonder to be treasured, experienced, and shared. Stars in the night sky, a beautiful moonlight night, sun rising over the ocean waves, snow-capped mountains, and the list could go on and on. I love beauty whatever form it takes and I like to think that I have a penchant for excellence. As for it being a character strength, that was a first for me.
There’s a great sense of joy, awe, and peace when I witness something that appears beautiful to my eyes. My energy increases and I feel moved within the depths of my being. Many others have told me they feel this way. Some of us are nature buffs, others are movie buffs or history buffs – but my particular buff is Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence. That’s not a bad one, I would say. And isn’t that the meaning of life? To find beauty in ourselves, in the world, and in others? ~ Risa Mickenberg
The 24 strengths fall into 6 broad categories: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. My #1 falls under the virtue category of Transcendence. “Appreciation of Beauty & Excellence is a strength within the virtue category of transcendence, one of six virtues that subcategorize the 24 strengths. Transcendence describes strengths that help you connect to the larger universe and provide meaning. The other strengths in Transcendence are appreciation of beauty & excellence , gratitude , hope , humor , and spirituality.” (VIA website)
The course that I alluded to having taken earlier on was “Positive Psychology.” Dr. Martin Seligman has been referred to as the “father of Positive Psychology.” Along with Dr. Christopher Peterson, they created the VIA Character Strengths. They are both distinguished in their own fields and authors as well.
In Google, type in Authentic Happiness Website. Once there, you can scroll down to the bottom of the page and look for Questionnaires – you will see the VIA Survey of Character Strengths there.
Have fun!
