How temporary everything is! You realize this when you are old. When you are in a particular circumstance in life, you think it is more or less permanent, but it never is. Never.
Category: Philosophy
Which?
Ignore It?
Should one just ignore the news?
It is usually of the clamorous and disastrous variety. So it is is a huge stressor, and who needs the stress? Plus, one can’t do much about whatever it is anyway.
So why pay any attention to it at all? Just ignore it, for one’s mental health.
In Stoicism, they tell you to concentrate on what is under your control, but ignore everything else — that would include the news, in my opinion
You see these people who never miss a single headline, and it is just making them crazier, although they may not realize it.
Discipline
When you must do something but you don’t want to — that’s discipline.
It is like a muscle. The more you are able to do it, the stronger it becomes. Conversely, the more you fail to do it, the weaker.
You can’t achieve anything without discipline. There isn’t much you can’t achieve with it.
Odd Beauty
The beauty of ordinary things.
Dog Walkers
There are two types of dog walkers — those who wait patiently for the dog to have a thorough sniff, and those who, instead, are constantly and impatiently pulling the leash for the dog to move on. Which type would you be?
I know which type the dog prefers.
Stay Positive
They tell you to stay positive. Yet circumstances may not allow you to be positive. If the circumstances you are facing are harsh enough, then it becomes virtually impossible to “stay positive” — the likely outcome is too depressing.
But if there is some light at the end of the tunnel — real light, not false hope — then the fresh air of actually being positive, as opposed to the shallow trick of telling yourself to stay positive, breezes in and resuscitates.
Jump
When you don’t have a choice, you jump. Like the people at the top of 1 World Trade Center on 9/11. Their choice was burn to death or jump, i.e., they had to jump. The choice was no choice.
Heroes
Who are your heroes? Choose them well.
Circumstance
Eugene O’Neil wrote a play about two brothers living on a farm. One brother loved farming and the other hated it. The brother who loved farming was infatuated with a local girl, but she took a shine to the other brother, and they eventually married. The disappointed brother who loved farming decided to cede the farm to his brother, and left to explore the world.
Thirty years later, he returned, after experiencing many difficulties and stresses but no joy, as he had left the one occupation that would have given him great satisfaction — farming.
When he returned, he found the farm in shambles, as the brother who had inherited it hated farming and generally neglected what needed to be done. And his marriage to the local girl proved barren and ended in divorce because, although she loved him, it wasn’t reciprocated.
One of the ancient Greek philosophers made the famous and enduring statement that “character is fate,” and this is so true, as your character will determine how you react to the world, and this will lead to certain outcomes. But mere circumstance is an extremely powerful influence over one’s life, no matter how strong and resilient your character may be.
Henry's Views 