What is your philosophy on life? If you have no idea, you are probably someone who reacts to whatever life is sending you by trying to decide how you “should” respond. You might be using someone else’s standards to determine your response because you don’t really know your own method of reasoning or convictions. Maybe you have a philosophy but you don’t think about it much so you don’t respond in accordance with it much either.
Your Philosophy on Life
The goal in a well lived life is to have a clear philosophy of life, think on it often, and let it guide your choices and behaviors. Such a lifestyle requires time set aside for contemplation and reflection. Not only can you form your philosophy during these times of contemplation, but you can also reflect on how well your actions align with your greatest convictions. If your behaviors are generally in conflict with your philosophy of life, then you either must change your behaviors or change your philosophy to bring them into harmony.
Creating a Personal Philosophy
This exercise will help you determine your personal philosophy. Reflect on it regularly to create harmony in your life. Be bold. Dig deep. Don’t write down what you think the right answer is, courageously write down what you feel deep in your soul being even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing that with others.
Me and the World
Use the list below and choose one or two topics. First write down the first thing that comes to mind about the topic. You might answer the question: What does _____________ mean to the world? Or What does _____________ mean to me?
- Happiness
- Evil
- Community
- Nationalism
- Success
- Truth
- Religion
- Prosperity
- Aging
- Beauty
- Intelligence
- Compassion
- Money
- Spirituality
- Morality
- Technology
- Nature
- Suffering
- Sadism
- Euthanisia
- Consciousness
- Reality
- Humanity
- Government
- Consciousness
- Peace
- Reality
- Sexuality
- God
- Giftedness
- Free Will
- Stewardship
- Death
- Purpose
- Truth
- Perfection
- Race
- Supernatural
- Heroes/Heroines
- Uniqueness
- Self
- Laws
- Peace
- Love
- Universe
Contemplation
Next, spend a few days or the rest of the week contemplating the topics you selected as you go about your daily routine. Then write down a two or three sentence philosophical statement about it. This is the beginning of your philosophy of life. Each week think on these things; review your old statements and see if they still fit and choose new topics to contemplate.
Reflection
Your philosophy of life is uniquely your own. It may not be what it was five or ten years ago. It may not be the same next year. It is more than likely not fully developed for two reasons. The first reason is because most people rarely give their philosophy of life a second thought or even a first.
Secondly, philosophies by nature develop and change the deeper one thinks about them. A meaningful life requires both contemplation and reflection.
On this quest we have embarked upon, we are going to do a lot of digging deep, contemplating life, and reflecting upon our own inner beings.
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