A method of conflict resolution that relies on the use of force.
[Note: Contrary to popular belief, a war can never be won. All sides engaged in it lose — arguably, but immeasurably, some more than others.]
See also: Conflict, Force, Peace, Struggle, Surrender, Truce

A hierarchy of human values organized according to the hierarchy of one’s roles, providing a map for quality choice-making.
[Note: Value systems are fluid — both the roles one occupies and the hierarchy of values within each role change over time. Given that choice quality is inversely related to distance from one’s value system, periodic examination of one’s value system is essential.]
See also: Choice, Human Value, Ideal-Self, Role, Value

An attribute of something (a concept, object, or process) that expresses its perceived importance, resulting from its conveyance of truth, its scarcity, or its potential to fulfill a need.
[Note: Value can be personal (sentimental) or collective (consensual, as with currency). Examples: A principle is valuable because it conveys truth; gold is valued for its scarcity; a skill is valued for fulfilling needs.]
See also: Human Value, Meaning, Need, Quality, Respect

The conviction that a made promise will be kept.
[Note: The promise — ultimately to do no harm — can be made explicitly or implicitly.]
See also: Faith, Intimacy

A relationship with a reality with which one cannot make peace, applied temporarily until the choice between surrender and struggle becomes clear.
[Note: Truce can be applied at many levels (e.g., international, interpersonal, intrapersonal); in this work, the emphasis is on the intrapersonal.]
See also: Acceptance, Choice, Peace, Struggle, Surrender

The calm willingness to experience an unpleasant or painful sensation without reacting to it.
See also: Calm, Endurance, Force, Patience, Strength

• The engine driving impermanence.
• Time is change.
[Note: The word Time is used to describe several very different phenomena: psychological (subjective) time, physical (objective) time, and time as a coordinate. All remain remarkably controversial to define. Einstein offered an operational definition: “Time is what a clock measures,” which is cute but unsatisfying. Ultimately, nobody — not even me — really knows what time is.]
See also: Acceptance, Compassion, Forgiveness, Hope, Present

The most complex instrument in the known universe, responsible for a vast array of life-sustaining tasks, all subservient to its ultimate function: A meaning-dependent, probability-driven choice generator.
See also: Choice, Meaning

A frame of reference composed of a time and a place in which a process takes place.
[Note: Examples include the American economy over the next five years, or the living room in my house over the next week. This definition addresses systems as spatiotemporal frames, distinct from other uses such as mechanical or political systems.]
See also: Process

A chosen relationship with an accepted difficult reality (i.e., perceived as lacking value or possessing negative value) when neither struggle nor truce is an option.
See also: Acceptance, Despair, Hope, Peace, Struggle, Truce