Pono is the Hawaiian word meaning to be righteous, balanced, good, correct, and moral. It encourages excellence, prosperity, and a sense of duty. 

Pono may seem like an outdated idea to many, especially in the way it encourages moral and righteous behavior. 

But in a world where religion is mocked and morality has all but disappeared, the value of pono has never been more important. 

When we live the value of pono, we live a balanced life: with nature, God, ourselves, and others. Our life is filled with ho’omaluhia, peace, because our actions are in alignment with who God needs us to be. A sense of calm overcomes us because that alignment feels well with our na’au, our gut feelings.

Being pono means standing up for the right, even when unpopular or mocked. It’s not easy to stand for truth, especially when we’re alone. But the value of pono encourages us to do so.

Being pono means putting trust in God before man, knowing that righteousness will always have its reward. 

How do we further implement the value of pono in our lives? 

Learning Pono from Koa Trees 

In the high mountains of Hawaii stand forests of beautiful koa trees. Koa trees were so important to ancient Hawaiians, as their sturdy and thick wood were perfect to make strong canoes. 

The koa trees known for strength and resilience, hold ground against the elements. They live in difficult conditions, where the high elevation makes it cold, and the humid wind sends a chilly breeze through the forest. They take about 80 years to reach their full potential, but as they grow, they are ever strong. 

I had the opportunity to plant koa trees when I joined a high school club. Our club did backbreaking work to plant koa trees in the forests of Mauna Loa. We held a huge pack of koa seedlings on our backs, and an o’o stick in the other hand. 

Our instructor told us that most of these seedlings would not make it through the conditions of the environment. But many of them would. 

I always thought about this. Pono is much like the strength of the koa trees. It isn’t easy to stand strong and tall against the elements. Likewise, it isn’t easy to stand firm when people question our beliefs and efforts to be moral. 

Pono is based on our personal convictions to do good, and elevate all of the human ‘ohana

Planting the koa trees reminded me of my high school life. I was the girl who didn’t swear. I really wanted to be right with God, and since he commanded—as far back as the 10 commandments—that we not take the Lord’s name in vain, I made my decision not to swear. Ever. 

I became known as the “goody-good” girl in high school, and classmates would question my decision. Nobody seemed to judge me for it. I felt so strongly about my convictions that my classmates didn’t blink an eye about it. They didn’t follow example–though an effort was always made to stop people from swearing around me. But they did recognize it as a part of a bigger duty and respect to God that I held in my heart. In fact, when we graduated, the valedictorian mentioned me in her talk, saying that if anyone felt lost and needed direction, they could turn to me. 

It was shocking. And self-revealing. I don’t share this story to boast. I share this story because being pono is the right thing to do. Even when it’s not popular, when everyone else around us seems to do the opposite thing, when society and communities say that morality is out of style. 

Choosing to be pono matters. When we make a conscious decision of how we’ll live pono, we dig our roots deep into the ground and stand strong and tall, just like the koa trees. 

How else can we live pono? 

Create a relationship with God 

Being pono stems from having a relationship with God. If you don’t know who he is or what he commands, how can we be righteous? How can we be right with him? 

You can start having a relationship with God right now: through prayer, reading his word, and attending his church. You don’t have to do anything special or make a dramatic life change to have a relationship with God, just start where you are. 

Make a decision ahead of time

What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want to be remembered as? When you start with the end in mind, it’s much easier to live a pono life. If you can visualize the kind of person you want to be, how would that change and reshape the way you live now? 

Live Balanced

Living balanced seems like a hard concept to grasp, but it can be made simple. Here is an example I like to use to explain balance: when someone litters the earth, that action throws things off balanced–for nature and the earth. When someone picks and properly disposes of the litter, it restores balance.

The same principle applies to our relationships with God, others, and ourselves. When we have a pilikia (trouble) with someone else, the mana (energy, spiritual relationship) is thrown off balance. We restore the balance in the relationship through ho’oponopono (making things right, correction).

If we want to live the value of pono, we would be wise to take a moment to ask ourselves these questions:

• Is my relationship with God balanced?
• How is my relationship with others (or enter name here)? Am I doing too little or too much of something?
• Is my relationship with myself balanced?

Sometimes we get into the habit of doing too much or too little of one thing–too much social life, too little connections, too much exercise, too little exercise, etc.

When we take the time to look at our life and ask, “Is my life pono–is it balanced?” we can feel what we should improve on. If we’re struggling to know what needs improvement, we can always ask God.

A pono life is a blessed life

The Hawaiian value of pono has deeply blessed my life. Even though I’ve sometimes stood alone in my beliefs and morals, I feel right with God. That’s one of the greatest blessings I could ever feel in this life. Being pono has helped me to feel right with God, and I know it can do the same for you as well. If you’d like to learn more about how to build your relationship with God, check out this wonderful source from my church! 

With joy + aloha, 

Leialoha 

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