I’m sure everyone has their own personal mantras and philosophies, core rules they live by.
Here are mine:
1. Don’t Panic.
This one is from Douglas Adams, and good advice for all times. When it seems the world is falling apart around you, or you are falling apart around the world, stop and take a breath. And if you can, let that breath out as laughter at the absurdity of life, the universe, and everything.
2. Don’t be an asshole.
Pretty self-explanatory. I started of with a Buddhist/simplified Hippocratic Oath of “Do no harm” but realistically, that’s pretty much impossible. I figured the best I could do was just not be an asshole.
and today I thought of a third, which has been there but not been put down as words:
3. Be aware.
This is just sort of, try to be in a state of awareness at all times, try to see the domino-like inter-relationship between things, be aware of the details in life, take the time to really take in the sensory input coming into your brain.
So nothing amazing, but there they are, my Robocop-like Prime Directives.
These are excellent mottos to live by. I often often forget the first one. I try as hard as I can to avoid being an asshole. Although at times it just slips out. And I think the last one is sort of like my idea of trying to stay childlike. Not childlike as in irresponsible or unable to take care of oneself, but just…have fun with life. See things as new and exciting. Try to look at things in an imaginative way. Again, it’s difficult to see driving to work in that light. Or paying bills. Or a bunch of other things. But I think it’s possible to be a lot happier when you think of things as a crazy adventure, akin to building a fort or making mud pies! 🙂
well, with driving to work, to do it safely, it’s narrowed to more of a focus on driving, but still the idea is to be aware of the nuances of the other drivers, the feel of the car itself, that sort of thing.