What’s your approach to life?

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Apparently Julius Caesar was something like 29 when he saw a statue of Alexander the Great and realized at his age Alexander the Great had conquered the entire world. He then resolved to achieve more in his life, conquered Gaul, and became Emperor of Rome.

Just because others have achieved more than you by the same age, doesn't mean you can't do something with your future.

“There’s more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” (Bible)

Trying to incorporate small acts of kindness into one’s life is a nice thing to do, but it’s also really good for you. Simple things like helping an elderly or disabled person with a bag of groceries can make both of your days and it can help put some things into perspective.

This doesn’t mean that you aren’t in tune to what you need or that you cater to narcissistic, toxic people who never give back, though.

- learn to take care of myself and be independent
- appreciate the small things so that I am less upset by the big ones
- have goals, always
- reciprocate kindness
- don't pursue people who are unavailable / accept rejection
- accept death / accept bad stuff / you can't control the universe etc
- try not to hurt others but also don't allow others to take advantage
- try enjoy the ride

I've come to realise that I'll never obtain a philosophy that provides all of the answers. Philosophically, my approach is rather like the eclecticism of first century BC Rome (a combination of stoicism, Epicureanism and cynicism) with nods of the head to Kantianism and the Transcendentalism of Thoreau and Emerson, the pessimism of Schopenhauer and a few other things. The single most valuable philosophical concept for me has been Aristotle's conception of the Golden Mean, from Nicomachean Ethics.

Of course, far more important than philosophy is religion itself. You can never go wrong in earnestly and honestly seeking to do God's will.

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”

—Robert Frost


“Not all those who wander are lost.”

—Tolkien


“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

—Thoreau

If you are depressed then you're living in the past. If you are anxious then you're living in the future. If you are at peace then you're living in the present. The past is a memory. The future is a fantasy. Only the present matters.

There are a lot of obstacles in life. You can try to walk around them, pretend they're not there, pretend not to care, and pretend that they are all someone else's fault. But in the end, the only person that you would be fooling is yourself.

The bottom line is this: life is about learning, whether you're in school or not. We are human. We make mistakes. But your lowest moment might also be the one where you begin to rise, and rise. So double back. Regroup. Brush yourself off, and try again.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

—Thoreau

Trying to live deliberately is a noble goal.

As did I, Twilightprincess

Laughter is the best medicine. It sounds cliche, but it’s held true for me. I couldn’t have gotten through my darkest times without it.