Life Philosophy

"We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be." — May Sarton

Introduction

We have all adopted some kind of ''life philosophy'' through which we consciously or sub-consciously build our life, one decision at a time. What we become, achieve and have is DIRECTLY related to the philosophy that we have chosen. Consequently, if you don't see the results you would like to see in your life…it is time to pump the bonnet open and scrutinize the philosophy that you have chosen to live by.

When I say 'philosophy' I mean belief, view point, understanding, pre-decided re-action, notion and conviction on an area of life eg religion, relationship, money, God, business, work, politics, leadership, health, wealth, education etc

How life philosophy is built

We are born with blank mind – no preconceived ideas or notion about anything; but as we grow up – our environment (which controls what we experience and knowledge we acquire) – begins to shape what we "believe" to be a 'safe' and 'best' way to navigate our life. We begin to write "internal programme" that will safeguard our future do's and don'ts.

This 'internal programme' is based solely on what we acquire from environment we live in, experience we go through and knowledge imposed on us. Slowly but certainly we begin to define who we are – our limits and boundaries – be they real or imagined it does not matter…we accept them and refer to them every time we have to make a choice or decision.

For example: a baby does not have understanding (knowledge) to associate (or disassociate) light and heat, so when it sees light, it crawls right to it seeking to 'touch' out of curiosity. When it touches open flame, there and then a clear message is 'burnt' in that child's mind, "stay clear of flames"…and immediately associate open flames with pain. God has designed all living things to walk away from anyone or anything that causes pain and pursue anyone or anything that has promise to pleasure and comfort.

As this (touching flame) child grows, it will continue to stay clear of anything that has to do with 'flames' UNTIL someone comes along with a new knowledge, teach him/her how to ''handle'' flame safely and use flame to his/her advantage.

Now, if you are honest, many of our life philosophies are based on our past ''burnt experiences", pain. The philosophy is then an inbuilt servo mechanism to avoid all chances of coming into contact with pain – never again. Think about it, what is your philosophy on money, wealth, opposite sex relationship, God, religion, work, business etc what is it based on? Is it not based on pain, loss, discomfort experienced in the past – yours or of your loved one?

How do you discover your philosophy?

Ask yourself critical questions and WRITE down answers…eg...what is your philosophy on Money?

1. What is the first experience you recall about money? (could be a talk, conversation, earnings)

2. What is the link between you and money? (this is a relationship, connection)

3. Who controls how much money you get? (could there be a person who has monopoly?)

4. Who controls when you are to get a lot of money? (monopoly over money?)

5. What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of 'lots of money'

How do you know if your philosophy is sound?

For every Genuine, there is a Fake (forgery, bogus); for every Authentic, there is Counterfeit (imitation) and for every Original there is a Copy. Authentic manufacturers worldwide spend

millions of dollars authenticating their products –inserting insignia, logos, publicity so that end users can tell the difference between genuine and fake, authentic from imitation.

Here is a non-exhaustive list to tell if you have sound life philosophy:

1. Materials – fake and forgeries are usually made from inferior goods and services. When a philosophy is made from an inferior place just to avoid ''pain, suffering and loss'' more often than not it will not be sound and empowering. Yes we learn from our pain, mistakes and loss but we choose to make our life philosophy exuding from faith, love and hope not from fear, hate and despair.

Examine your life philosophy (persuasion, conviction, belief) on any subject of choice, be it God, religion, relationships, money, wealth, leadership, government, politics . . . is your philosophy made out of faith, love and hope or fear hate and despair? If it is the latter, it is bound to be unsound and will not produce your life full potential.

2. Function – every forgery, fake, counterfeit will not have the same level of function as the original, authentic, genuine. Any philosophy that belittle, despise and play down your worth, value, ability and destiny is not sound. Any philosophy that puts others on the pedestal will discriminate the rest and it is based on false unsound premises.

Whatever you see others do, you can do and chances are you can do faster and better. . . "the only thing that stands between you and your great future is you and your doubts"– Robert Kiyosaki. If you don't see all the function you expected in your life, chances are you don't have a sound philosophy, examine the basis of your philosophy in the area in question.

3. Test of Time – all fake, counterfeit, imitations and copies do not stand the test of time…sooner or later they will breakdown and crumble. Your philosophy will be tested against time – endurance – if it is on solid foundation (basis) it will stand otherwise it will collapse on weight and you will fall with it.

Examine your philosophy (persuasion, conviction, belief) on any area that you have trouble; if you always change your philosophy based on what you experience, chances are you are on flimsy ground and your basis for that philosophy are not sound. People who change their philosophies frequently are usually flimsy, unstable and dangerous to deal with.

Here are some of my life-philosophies, feel free to adopt if you like them:

Area	Philosophy
God	God created everything and one day we shall answer for what we did with 'time' granted on earth
Money	Money is not a miracle, it is a reward for solving problems; the more problems solved more money
Relationship	Relationship should be based on mutual respect, adding value to each other else reconsider
Religion	Your religion is not good to me if it does not help me, show me answers to my everyday issues

These are but my philosophy, persuasions, conviction…they may be right, they may be wrong but this is where I am today 03rd April 2014…I am a working progress.

//Tim J Kyara

Teacher/ePastor/Engineer/Mentor/Life Coach

Teacher of the Word www.light2mypath.blogspot.com

Clean Humour 2 Health www.laughin2health.blogspot.com