★Share your nutshell philosophy

1. We are not our thoughts. We are the awareness OF our thoughts. We find more peace when we learn to observe the thinker. This is a pretty worthwhile thing to know. AND it’s something I’m pretty certain of.

2. Life is hard. Theoretically it doesn’t have to be, but it is. Accept it. Things get a little easier once we learn to accept this little fact. It’s also good to remember that no matter how tough it gets, others have had it just as tough or tougher. Without pain and suffering there would be no joy, learning or growth. Acceptance of reality is important.

3. There is more to life than the pursuit of pleasure or the avoidance of pain, a big part of it has to do with finding meaning.

4. The meaning of life is different for each of us and it changes from moment to moment. No one ever has been or ever will be just like you or me. Each of us is on our own road; our experience is unique.

5. I believe we are here for some reason and that there are some general things that pretty much apply to everyone. As far as I can tell, we are here to learn and contribute in some way. I like the “love one another” thing and the “do unto others” thing. Maybe we are meant to be a rock star or make some great discovery, maybe something less grandiose like being a wonderful nurse, mechanic, teacher or parent.

6. It is a good and important thing to look inward to get a better understanding of ourselves. It is good to figure out for ourselves what we value and what principles we believe in – maybe it’s seeking truth, or helping others, or hard work, simplicity, skill, strength, … – our individual set of values and principles is important and having a handle on them gives us strength when life knocks us around. It is definitely worth the effort it takes to discover these things. There is great worth in closely examining the things we value and the things that upset or excite us.

7. Our communications skills have a very direct impact on the quality of our lives. It is through these skills that we interact and express ourselves in the world. Learning to really listen is worth the effort and can have an immediate and profound effect on our lives and the lives of those around us. Other skills are important too, of course, – if you are a painter it helps to learn how to paint, if you’re a teacher it helps to learn how to teach and so on, but how we communicate has a powerful impact on our lives. There is much to be learned not only from our friends, but from those with whom we disagree. Seek understanding.

8. Taking care of our bodies takes self-discipline, but the rewards are worth the effort.

9. We can’t get what we want ’til we know what we want and planning and having goals is a good thing, but it’s very unlikely that our life is going to follow our plan exactly. Once we have a good idea where we’re going it’s best to focus on what we are doing right now in this moment rather than spending too much time dwelling on the future or the past. If we want to achieve some thing in the future, the best way to do that is to do what we are doing right now in this moment right now in this moment.

10. Be kind to people, especially children.

Jeff i love this post ,if the world lived by your philosophy on life it would be such a kind ,positive and encouraging place .Thanks for sharing ,love flowergirl

Thanks Jeff. This is a nice start to a nicer day. Do you ever feel like you are clinging to the edge of something? then the universe in some way gathers you up softly in her fingertips and sets your path straight again? How’s your faith lately?

not mine but this poem resonates with me a lot

we do not cease from exploration
and at the end of our exploring
is to arrive where we started
and know the place for the first time

T.S. Eliot

Thoughts Become.
To Become you must Be.
I think, therefore I am, I am therefore I have.
Effectiveness is the measure of truth.
The world is what you think it is.
There are no limits.
Energy goes where attention goes.
Love is to be happy with.
Now is the moment of power.
All power comes from within.

My philosophy would be:
Give people the benefit of the doubt. If they treat you poorly, just move on.
Think about the consequences to your actions.
Make the effort to improve the world.
Be mindful!

I would say that they have a right to do with their own property as they please as long as they aren’t hurting anyone. A person has a right to be as greedy or as generous as they wish to be in my view. It bugs me when I hear people talk about giving a “fair share”. What is a fair share?

I like The Philosophy of Liberty

We will have to agree to disagree on that. We cannot assume that the needy are needy because of the rich. Also, we can’t put one man’s sins on another man’s tab. It is the road to serfdom

Sure. They should. Should we force them to? If one man has the power to take another man’s property does he have a right to take that property. If so, then might makes right. Anything is justifiable then.

The ideas are way older than the Constitution. The common good is best served by individual liberty and not mob rule. Stalin and Hitler and many others have used the common good argument to centralize power. The Soviet Union had a wonderful sounding constitution, but the language and the reality are two different things. I have no more right to dictate another man’s values to him than I have a right to force someone to work in a labor camp.

This thread has gone in a direction from where I initially guessed it would go, but there are definitely ideas worth exploring on the current course.

I thought the video mara posted brought up some really good topics. What I can’t figure out is why they were being so adversarial – they were both right on lots of stuff in my view. There are valid points that come from within the occupy wall street movement, but they are lost because the movement is so full of nut-jobs. I would go back to 1913 and the creation of the Federal Reserve as the root of most of the US economic problems. I would also point to progressivism (Woodrow Wilson, FDR, Johnson, Carter, Bush, Clinton, Bush and Obama…). Many try to marginalize those who speak out, but here is a Glen Beck clip on MAED – Mutually Assured Economic Destruction that bears on what we are experiencing globally. In my view, what I call “progressives” – socialists and communists, and now most democrats and many republicans are moving us in the direction of a world government whether they are aware of it or not. There are reasons they want to do away with the second amendment via the United Nations. I can see the eyes rolling, but it’s what I think is happening. The US dollar is now a fiat currency because it is no longer tied to anything and the average lifespan for a fiat currency is around forty years. Guess how long ago we went off the gold standard. I’m a bit out of my depth here, but I don’t think it is something we can NOT consider. Do you think the US dollar can’t be replaced as the world reserve currency? Think again, it is already being discussed by many people in high places. Do you know what that mean? Basically it means that our dollar is considered to have value and that banks around the world use it as their primary reserve. There are reasons people talk about opec and the US dollar. I’m digressing – the point is that if the US dollar is replaced as the world currency the dollar will assuredly lose a LOT of value because dollars will be less desirable to hold and will flood into the world economy. This is why quantitative easy is so foolish. I don’t know the numbers, but I can tell you it ain’t a good thing. In the history of the world the US has been the exception when it comes to freedom and liberty and the protection of individual rights, but we have now gotten so far off track and moved toward progressivism – our representatives no longer represent the people or protect individual liberty. A handful of corporations have gotten so large that they own the government. There are economic realities playing out right now that we don’t even understand. Maybe a few people do, but if they do I don’t know any of them. One thing I know is that the US economy, like the EU and China and Japan is a house of cards. The real slogan for a progressive should be “Let Them Eat Cake” and under that in smaller letters it would read “The Road to Hell”. Greece is small potatoes, but shows us where the road leads. There is no cake. You have to make the cake. If you don’t protect the farmer’s right to own and manage his own property then why will he even attempt to plant a crop or tend his livestock. Individual liberty and property rights create stability. Freedom is worth having. The other road, progressivism, leads to tyranny of one form or another. It is about control. Under progressivism, you still get farms, but they are raised at the point of a gun – state owned guns. It is the opposite of freedom. In the year 1500 it is estimated that there were about half a billion people on earth. It took until around 1830 to reach one billion. In 1930 – two billion. 2007 – seven billion. Projected for 2050 is ten and a half billion. Progressives like to make promises they know they can’t keep and ignorant people elect them. Forget about the one percent in the US, confiscate all the wealth in the world and you still can’t fulfill the promises. The current US debt is roughly equal the the GDP for the entire planet. It cannot be paid in a single generation. I’m not talking about the annual deficit, I’m talking about the cumulative deficit. Promises are going to be broken, folks, I promise. The ONLY hope is to cut spending. It is NOT a revenue problem, it is a spending problem. It is a math problem. Real growth does not come from printing more monopoly money. Economic growth comes from the productive use of capital. The government does not produce capital – people produce capital. The federal government can only spend it does not produce. Government is necessary, but a growing government shrinks the economy, it does not grow it. This is not empty rhetoric or sophistry, I can prove it. Keynesian economics is flawed, severely flawed and it can easily be demonstrated to anyone interested in learning about it. A dollar bill is not capital – a tractor is capital. If every person on the planet could theoretically send every cent they earned for a year and spent no money of food or housing or clothing or anything else to the US we could pay off the US debt, that ain’t gonna happen. Empty promise folks. Stop electing progressives. Obama is a progressive. Romney is too. Virtually everyone in the congress and the senate are progressives and the band plays on. Bigger government ain’t gonna fix it. Smaller government is better. Individual liberty and personal responsibility – dats da dope. Hell, it’s getting late and I don’t even know where I’m going, I’m just rambling now and I’m tired of typing. I could go on, I promise. Anyway, at least I’m not depressed, lol. Sorry for the bad grammar and typing. You’ll just have to live with it – I ain’t gonna go fix it! I know. I’m crazy, right. It can be pretty scary inside my head, lol.

Collectivism is pretty much the opposite of individualism.
I would suggest that “the ethic of the individual” is what promotes the common good. Collectivism leads to poverty and slavery. Basically, individualism means a person owns himself, collectivism means you are owned. History shows us that collectivists are more than willing to kill their own citizens for the common good. Government is necessary, but prosperity comes from freedom – not collectivism. The idea that collectivism helps the poor is the hook, it is also the big lie. A person can easily support individualism and care for his fellow man. Collective governments are repressive governments, you know the kind – the kind where they put you in jail or worse for saying what you think or questioning authority. The world is full of these kinds of governments and so is history. We should discuss the role of the federal government vs the role of state and local governments and which is more effective at what kinds of things. Why does everyone these days think that the federal government is the best and only way to do stuff when clearly, clearly, clearly they screw up practically everything they get their hands on. I can burn my own money – I don’t need to send it to the federal government to do it for me. If a country, government, community, whatever moves away from collectivism and toward individual liberty and freedom the country becomes more stable, the people become more educated and the people raise their standard of living. The evidence is undeniable. Yet, for some reason the US is moving away from the ideas of free markets and freedom toward collectivism. It is truly astonishing that so many are so willing to set aside reason and drink the kool-aid. It underscores how important it is to “get em while they are young”. Get them to buy in as children and it is hard to unbrainwash them. Drive into the heads of young people that collectivism equals caring for your fellow man and free market capitalism equals greedy, uncaring, selfishness and pretty soon they build legs under the false premise. I picture a battered wife staying with her abusive husband cause he really loves her and he didn’t mean it and he won’t do it again and he really has a good heart and…

Be happy where you are and what you have today.

Jeff, There’s a reason I don’t post essays representing the other side of the ownership debate

My reason?

_You can believe anything you want and have success with it. But in the moment you push against what another believes, you cut yourself off from your success.

~ Abraham Hicks_

Hey, there’s a nutshell philosophy I can live with.

It would be worthwhile to post some American Indian ideas on ownership as well. I’m more interested in exploring and learning than pushing against or closing my mind to what others have to say. I can understand why it might seem that way though.

In response to jacob’s post:

What’s wrong with loin cloths? If you can stand the cold and live in a cave you would most likely be a lot more healthier than today’s people. That’s why so many are so unhealthy. We have grown so dependent on the latest styles and the best house best car. We live to work not to live. There is a lot more to life besides pleasing others with what we have.

Really, for me, it isn’t about debate at all – it is about discussion. Most of the folks on bmindful can handle honest discussion. I can be long winded, that’s for certain – but, it makes for better understanding. Heck, most people don’t even read a tenth of what I write on anyway. A lot of the time I’m just writing for myself to clarify my own thinking. Often I find that by reading what I have written I see new avenues of thought and new questions. I appreciate silence and just being, but I also feel the need to speak up too. A bird flies, a fish swims and a man thinks. It’s his nature.

Be kind to everyone ( you don’t know what is going on in their lives)
Care for and about the animals
Look after Mother Earth

Be grateful for every new morning .

Cherish those moments ,a hug from your daughter ,a cup of tea with a friend in their cosy kitchen ,a smile from a stranger,a memory,a rainbow,a soft bed ,a gift from your son – Harley duck bought me a shortbread ghost on Halloween ,the first snowdrops,stars and the moon on a frosty night ,sunrise,the dawn chorus.

Try to do a good turn every day .

Now THAT sounds like my kind of philosophy!

˚isn’t it wonderful?  

Posted on 03/11/2012. Last edited on 19/03/2013.

In response to flowergirl’s post:
more great stuff floating around here all of the time. I agree more great philosophy flowergirl!

• ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  I enjoyed the following nutshell-type quotes…regarding requisites for happiness/contented living/purpose.
  ►• Simplicity This – is a stability, a straightforwardness, a purity of the mind that is often expressed in a simpler lifestyle – a simpler diet, a more orderly routine, a more intelligent use of time, less clutter, less financial chaos, fewer involvements – in other words, less world, more peace.There is nothing more to happiness than this. -Hugh Prather
  ►•Nine requisites for contented living: Health enough to make work a pleasure. Wealth enough to support your needs. Strength to battle with difficulties and overcome them. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor. Love enough to move you to be useful to others. Faith enough to make real the things of God. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future. — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet, dramatist and scientist (1749-1832)
  ►• Be single-minded. Be purposeful. Be focused. Know who you are and what you truly want. Be conscious. Be aware. Formulate your purpose into words. Etch it on your heart. Repeat it in your mind. And above all, live it and live it and live it . _{Hugh Prather}