What is the most important thing that we possess? Some may say it’s our body or maybe our mind. To me the most precious thing we have is our time. And it is very limited. How we decide to use it - that is up to us. And it is difficult, isn’t it?
Few years ago I had an epiphany - I realized that I wasn’t happy with who I am and what I am doing in my life. I was wasting my time on being a person, who I did not like. So I decided to make some sudden and decisive changes, which kind of worked, but ultimately I had no idea what I’m dealing with. After some time full of emotions I started reading non-fiction. Here and there popped different books, materials and philosophies on how to live better. As expected I was initially sceptic about all of it but still decided to give it a try. In the process I picked some pieces from here and there, different ideas that I liked and it took some time but now I am more aware of my own and other people’s emotions, more confident and calm. With that said I still feel I have a long way to go.
My intention is to share with you some of the practices, quotes, ideas that I read about. I am a student myself, I have not tried everything that I will share with you, nor I like all of it. My goal is to see the world from different angles and share them with you. Your goal should be to find your own angle.
Everyone has to find their own things that work for him and not strictly follow a philosophy, teaching or religion. Take what you like, and dismiss what you don’t. For example you may like the cosmic view of buddhism, but not believe in rebirth or karma. You may like the values of christianity, but not believe in God. Or maybe you believe in God, but you do not believe that you should give yourself to him in order to live a life of virtue.
Those teachers were people themselves, never forget that! They had their own biases, their own faults and weaknesses. What they offer is their unique interpretation of this world, of what makes us humans, what happens after death, what is the meaning of all. Some are more practical, other are more about the divine, some worship pleasure, other renounce all possessions. Why would you ever follow any teaching to the letter? You are unique. You are different. You are yourself.
My plan is to dive deep into different teachings and philosophies, starting with the one that is probably closest to me in terms of practicality.
I want to challenge you and myself to look for possible answers of some of the following questions:
Why do we humans always look on things in a short-term manner and avoid to think about the long-term? (For example we know that we have to take care of our teeth, but we don’t. Being asked about what they regret most in their life people on death bed mention “not taking care of my teeth” quite often.)
How to train ourselves to think long-term?If we have only a limited time every day that we can devote to self-improvement - lets say 1 hour - what is the best way to spend it?
How to increase our time supply? What is a loss of time and what isn’t?
How to rest? Why is rest important?
How to take control of our emotions? Is that at all possible?
Where does happiness come from?
And many more that will come out.
I do not inspire to be a life-guru or to have any genius revelation about life.
My ultimate goal with this series will be to stimulate your brain cells to think on different topics. If I state something it will be merely my own opinion on things and I accept and embrace that yours may be different. Please share it with me :)