Hey Dopers! This is a serious inquiry, although humorous responses are always welcome in my posts. What is your personal philosophy of life, reality, the nature and/or meaning of existence, etc. ? This may or may not include classical philosophy, religion, spirituality, common sense, experience, or just a gut feeling about stuff in general. Show me yours and I might show you mine. You first.
Peace,
TN*hippie
Okay, here’s one: Always check your spelling, philosophers!!!
feeling dumb already,
TN*hippie
Everything must come to an end.
Which isn’t necessarily depressing as it might sound.
I had a regular substitute teacher in high school with the philosophy: “Busy hands are happy hands.”
I’m not sure he ever figured out why we always laughed when he said that.
Anyway, my philosophy is to just try to be the best person that you can be in every situation. It seems to work quite well, when I follow it anyway.
My worldview is existential humanism; my religious philosophy is animism; my political philosophy is social democracy, and my economic philosophy is Keynesianism.
I just make it all up as I go along.
Well, I could ramble on endlessly about EVERYTHING, but I’ll try to keep it (relatively) short.
Try to be a good person. (Of course.) Try to always keep your mind active, with new hobbies and interests. Try to learn new skills, develop new talents, and keep working on skills you’ve developed. Don’t let your pride or fear of failing hold you back from doing these things. Go for something, do it with gusto, even if you suck at first. Occasionally, (within reason, time budget, etc.) GO OVERBOARD!!! Don’t hold back. Not even if those around you think you are “weird”. (There is a balancing act sometime - never letting “weird” migrate to “not healthy” - but that’s just something you’ll have to work out!)
I don’t always follow my own philosophy, but when I do, it really pays off, and I find myself feeling pretty happy. It wards of depression (or at least takes the edge off.) I dunno, I just feel very strongly about this right now. I guess because lately I find myself surrounded by some people who just don’t seem to do this. They don’t have any personal projects, and don’t seem to be be looking forward to any exciting new thing, hobby, or skill. And I don’t want to be like that.
Well, I did ramble a bit - but believe me - it could have been FAR worse!
Were I to determine my purpose in life by what I spend most of my time doing, I’d have to say that I was put on earth to move bits of paper around, sing whenever I can, and make cats happy. Which is not the worst life I could imagine.
As for a philosophy, the keystone of mine is this:
Little kindnesses matter.
That’s it.
I believe in doing a quality job, whatever it is. Even if you don’t like it. Eventually, somebody will come along, look at your finished product and ask, “Who did that?” There is a fine line between a job done well and a job that is “good enough”. I try to lean towards done well. My little creed is to
do everything such that you would be proud to sign your name.
It works with tangible jobs, like producing output, or even in the way you interact with people.
I have several, which proved successful and fun in the past. I believe that people generally think of me as a nice person to be around, so I heartily recommend people to share my views 
:
[1] Try everything at least once, continue trying if you find you like it.
[1a] Speak from experience, not from hearsay.
[1b] Have fun in everything you do.
[2] Don’t do unto others what you wouldn’t want others doing to you.
[3] Be understanding. Always try to envision yourself in the other shoe.
Never to answer philosophy messages…just kidding.
Would prefer “nothing unreal exists”
From Garth Brooks’ song Rollin’.
(From the same song: “If you’re tired get on the sofa 'cause the bed’s no place to sleep”)
Life can be tough, but I bet I’m tougher.
This quote from The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King also sums it up for me:
"The skin of the world is woven of stingers, a fact you have now learned for yourself. Beneath there is nothing but bone and the God we share."
Be.
Just kidding, sort of. It’s a bit more complicated than that, but I want to hear more of yours. This is good stuff.
Peace,
TN*hippie
You should not care what those you do not have a strong bond with, think of you.
No Regrets.
That covers a lot of it (it’s amazing what high school teachers can make stick with you…). There’s a good load of Existentialism, and a rather large dose of rather liberal Christianity. And a mishmash of whatever else has struck me as true.
As there is no creator there is no such thing as inalienable rights or basic human rights, or anything along those lines.
Any “freedoms” or “rights” are those that people take and make for themselves with the agreement of those around them.
That’s my philosophy of how to behave.
My philosophy of life is that life is an accidental string of coincidences. Don’t overinflate its importance.
People should try to not get in each others’ way.
The First Noble Truth: Life is suffering. People should try to act in ways that reduce the amount of suffering in the world; and avoid acting in ways that bring more into it.
It’s good to be human.
What is your personal philosophy of life?
This is a good question, because it makes me think. At first glance, my reaction was “I don’t think I really have one!”. Bu that’s not entirely true. I think I can sum it all up in three short phrases:[ul][li]Whatever you do, try to have fun while doing it.[/li][li]Be aware of what implications your actions have on others, and be compasionate.[/li][li]Make enough friends to make life worth living, and always be loyal to those you call friends. They’re your back-up. And you are theirs.[/ul]**Reality, the nature and/or meaning of existence, etc. ?[/li]**Ah, this is where it gets easy for me. Allow me to quote my personal friend mr. Neil Peart, of Rush fame:
“Why are we here?
Because we’re here
Roll the Bones”
In other words: I don’t know what it’s all about, and I don’t believe in a higher power, a goal for which I was put on this earth, or a destiny I should be persuing. It’s all in your own hands, your own roll of the dice: ROLL THE BONES.
My philosophy is:
Do it. Don’t just talk about it, bitch about it, or dream about it. Take the first step, then the next, then the next. Express your goals out loud to everyone and be proud.
Zette
future PhD in Clinical Psychology