Some Thoughts

It's night time at the cottage. It's so quiet here that the only sound I can here is my fingers on the keyboard. I began to feel philosophical as I packed my pipe with tobacco, and have opted to share some of my personal ethos with the friends, acquantainces, and complete strangers that make up the readership of this mish-mash.

Before I begin, I'll preface to say that I do not wish to impose my beliefs on anyone else. This is the code that I follow because it works for who I am, and my sole intent in posting a portion of it is to give you a more personal glimpse of what's going on behind my eyes. If it gives you something to think about, that's an unexpected bonus. And if you're not interested, there's a funny article about my shitty old car ("Saying Goodbye to an Old Friend") on the right hand margin.

Okay, here we go.

First and foremost, I believe in serving a calling that is larger than myself. To live for oneself is to discard any hope of immortality. This is not to say that there is not another path beyond this mortal realm, but immortality in the reality that we know is perpetuated through our legacy. Live only for yourself, and your actions end when you expire.

Everyone deserves happiness as the person they are. We have become trained to view the question, "What do I want?" as being selfish, and "How can I improve?" to be progressive. Happiness is not a destination to be arrived at, but a way of viewing the world. Much suffering comes is self-inflicted by those of us who believe that they should be something that they are not. In following our dreams and doing what we love, we serve our legacy - whether curing cancer or shining shoes is better for the world is a matter of conjecture.

Money is neither good nor evil. It is something that we trade our life energy for, and it is the value that we gain from it that is important, not the dollar figures that are involved. Material envy is pointless. Regardless of how much you may have, there will always be those that have much more. No matter how little you may have, there are always those that have far less.

True virtue requires suffering to the benefit of others. Even the most noble of gestures, done for personal glory or gain, are without meaning. Our ethics are shown in the way we live our lives when no one is watching.

We are only human. We are weak. We make mistakes. We act selfishly. We hurt others. But the past does not matter. The only thing that matters is who we are right now, and the choices that we make in the face of our failings. Failure is inevitable, but it is only a true failure if we fail to learn from our mistakes.

Honour. Duty. Courage. Love. Trust. Compassion. What has become of these simple, noble ideals? There is no one defining moment when all of our values are called into question. It is a series of small choices, almost indefineable. Do we let our waiter know that we've been undercharged? Do we cheat on our taxes? Do we confront our employer when we are belittled and brushed aside? Do we let someone into our lives, dropping our guard even if it means that they could hurt us worse than we've ever known? Do we acknowledge the suffering of others, even if it means weeping for those you've never met? A thousand such challenges face us every day, with every breath.

Appreciate what you have. If you take a moment to stop and reflect, you can find at least some small part of your life that you have taken for granted... some simple pleasure that you have not expressed gratitude for. Tonight, most of us will fall asleep in a real bed. We will not be troubled by pangs of hunger or chronic illness. We will not fall asleep to the sound of distant artillery, or fear that our loved ones will be taken from their homes in the dead of night.

That's it for now. I need to get to bed. Cheers.