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I know from being an assistant football coach that there are endless formations, designs, schemes and combinations that can be part of an offensive playbook. Yet, it boils down to what a quarterback can do with a football, which is to run it, hand it off or throw it. Life, too, is full of a myriad of philosophies to follow. There are many ways you can run your life. You can fill your playbook with countless plays.

Having a playbook, as any good coach knows, is needed to be prepared to react to whatever comes your way. The middle of the game is not the time to come up with a plan and assess your options. The same is true in life. A personal playbook is needed to guide you as you travel life's — and especially the health care landscape's — winding and often uncertain road. Having a well-prepared, well-defined and refined playbook gives you a solid foundation and helps you to act with confidence. This playbook should be full of your fundamental values and guiding principles.

God has blessed us with the greatest playbook of all: the Bible. And God has given us Jesus to show us how to use that playbook. Jesus has demonstrated for us how to live, explained the plan, shown us the values, and taught us how to internalize God's playbook. He instructed us to write it in our hearts so that it becomes who we are, rather than just something we do.

It is up to each of us to follow Jesus' example and take God's message and make it our own. As people created in the image and likeness of God, we have it in ourselves to do just that. God wants us to live lives of holiness and goodness, and dreams for us to live life to the fullest.

Having a well-developed playbook is a good resource for ourselves and useful when working with others, especially young people. When working with student-athletes, I often talk to them about the values that not only make them good players and teammates but also good people. Being a person of good character, I remind them, is more important than the numbers on the scoreboard.

Encouraging young people to seriously build their own playbook is essential. If you don't know what your values are, it is easy to go through life acting and reacting according to someone else's moral compass, and that could lead you down the wrong path. Every person, no matter their age, has the light of life within them, the propensity for good and the longing for God. Building a value-laden playbook is where to start living a good life.

I offer you four plays from my personal playbook. These four values are the foundation of how I strive to live my life. These values have proven to lead me to goodness and happiness. They have anchored my life in storms, inspired me in difficulties, and made any good day just a little bit brighter.

PLAY #1: HOSPITALITY
Maybe because I am a Benedictine, I think of hospitality as the first value to put in my playbook. As Benedictines, we think of hospitality all the time. It is one of our hallmarks. Now, when I say hospitality, I don't simply mean offering coffee and cookies to a visitor. It is much more than that. It is about creating a welcoming atmosphere and extending acceptance to all.

Hospitality even goes beyond welcoming people. It calls for accepting all that God has to offer you, the sun and the rain alike. Hospitality says that we welcome God's gifts no matter how they come to us, whatever their disguise. Having the value of hospitality in your playbook allows you to be flexible and accepting of all people and situations.

PLAY #2: STEWARDSHIP
No playbook is complete without the value of stewardship, taking care of what has been given to you and using it for the glory of God and the good of the Kingdom. Each of us has been entrusted with gifts, talents and the resources of time and treasure. Everything we have comes from and belongs to God, and we are responsible for being good stewards. Having the value of stewardship in your playbook invites you to take a count of your blessings and gives you reasons to trust in God.

Respect begins with cherishing and promoting the worth of all human life. It is treating people with dignity and wanting the best for them.

PLAY #3: RESPECT
I don't like to rank the values in my playbook, but if I did, I would put respect at the top. Even though you need a fully stacked and well-rounded playbook to live a full life, you can't go wrong with having respect as your overarching value. I believe if you get respect right, then everything else will fall into place.

Respect begins with cherishing and promoting the worth of all human life. It is treating people with dignity and wanting the best for them. Respect is a way of thinking about or looking at people, places and things. Having respect in your playbook will keep you in right relationship with God, others and yourself.

PLAY #4: JUSTICE
One might not think of justice as a value that should be in a personal playbook. We might think it is only appropriate for lawyers, politicians or Superman (with his motto of truth, justice and a better tomorrow). Yet, we are called to be people of justice. When we live the value of justice, we are basing our decisions and actions not only on what is good for ourselves but also on how they affect the lives of others.

I know my mom told me more than once that I was intended to always do what I am meant to do in the way I am supposed to do it. Having justice in your playbook will keep you in line with God's dream for the world.

WIN, LOSE BUT NEVER DEFEATED
There you have it: my four plays for living a good life. With these four plays in my playbook, I can navigate anything life throws at me. They allow me to pivot and adjust. They keep me centered and on the right path. They help me become who and how God intends me to be.

Make a list of the four values that are most important to you. Define those values and think of practical ways to put them into action.

Reflect upon those people who have influenced you in developing your moral compass. What values did they teach you? How did they encourage you to find the values that are important to you?

How might you use values to help youth thrive? In what ways can you encourage youth to live a value-centered life?

With a value-laden playbook in place, the ability to spark the light of a good life within others is possible. Great players will inspire others.

SR. LISA MAURER, OSB, is the director of mission integration and formation for Duluth Benedictine Ministries. She is also the director of vocations and formation for her monastic community and serves as an assistant football coach at the College of St. Scholastica.