What values shape your life?

The values that shape my life are justice, love, respect and forgiveness.  I believe every human being deserves the respect due to them, and should have the opportunity to let their voice be heard and their story told before any judgement can be passed.  I believe that we should aim to solve conflicts with love, rather than love.  I am not sure who said these words but they ring so true, "Am I not destroying my enemies when  I make them my friends?"
To be honest, I think it is ridiculous that in this day and age when we talk about how civilized and progressive we are that we still believe the only way to resolve conflict is through brute force.  We must learn to realize that we ourselves cannot be truly free unless we can forgive.

I guess I would say I did consciously choose these though, because it is within our power to make the choice of how we will live our lives.

What I can say though is that if I didn't learn the importance of forgiveness I would probably be a monster by now, because that is the inevitable outcome of harboring hate and anger your heart.