First off I would like to say that I do my best thinking at night for all the professors out there. And that my philosophy shouldn't be taken verbatim. They are more like a set of guidelines I try to set myself in and I will also adjust my philosophy as I grow and continue to learn more everyday. So now off to the specifics.
Also not in any particular order and I also will add to this list as I go. I will write a sentence or phrase and try to explain my reasoning or a definition of what I mean by it.
1. Treat others as you would like to be treated. I might not do this everyday, but it makes good practice to try at least. I would hope that you would like to be given respect and kindness and that would reflect in how you treat others and if you don't think that you should treat others with respect and kindness than you might want to reevaluate yourself with what you expect of others and yourself. (kinda hard to not write a thousand word explanation on this, maybe some day)
2. Being Prepared. I think that this one needs a little further explanation than what it just says. Being prepared might mean doing research. Like knowing thy enemy, if you have them which everyone should have a couple. There is a quote somewhere that goes something like this, "If you have enemies than that means you stood up for something in your life" don't quote me on that but that is the gist of it.
Preparation might mean planning ahead. This is where I want to get into it. I have recently read about Buddha in my religions class and would like to start out by saying Buddha was an egotistical guy, now listen to my reasoning. If you know the story of how a young Indian prince Suddharta became enlightened than you should know that he was given everything (physically). He might be looking for the intangible but he was given everything else. This made him unhappy for some reason, but if he had planned ahead he could have seen what a wonderful situation he was placed in and he wouldn't have had to go out and desert his wife and child. After seeing "life" (death, disease, etc) he gave it all up in search of enlightenment. Now this could be interpreted as him being brave and self-realizing himself but I would argue that he had the best of things going for him. He might not have been self-rich, full of purpose, but he had everything a person not in his position could dream of, better welfare, family, food, etc. He was a prince and someday king, now I don't know how exactly that feels but I can imagine it was not exactly the tough life. Trying to fill in those shoes might be difficult and I can see how he might not even want to do that, but you don't have to throw it all away and go beg for food and harm your body and mind in seeking enlightenment. Another thing that bugs me is that he gave up his wife and child. In the story I read it said he was fully in love with her and that one-day when they were making love on a rooftop they fell off and into a bed of lilies and they didn't even notice. Now I don't know about you but that sounds like happiness to me. Buddha didn't plan ahead. He could have imagined his life as a future king with a beautiful wife and child and continue his father's legacy or create his own but instead he chose a life of solitude except for maybe hanging out with a few monks, all guys by the way. If he had planned ahead it looks to me like he could have had a wonderful life. Lesson: plan ahead and don't end up like Buddha, no. Plan ahead and know what's coming so you can correctly adjust making if any painful occurrences less painful and so forth.
3. Live your life to the fullest each day because it might be your last. Now what this means to me is to try your best. I also wouldn't go as far as saying be the best at everything, but live because you have been given a chance to become something and people will remember you for it. I know it might be hard on somedays like being sick or sad because of a lost one or something else. But for the rest of the time if you try your best than that is all anybody can ask for. "Carpe Diem" like the Greeks said seize the day.
4. Be optimistic. This has helped me a lot through troubling times like the recent tsunami/earthquake or even in times of uncertainty. Being optimistic means you tend to see the good things in life, future prospects and opportunities.
5. Seize the moment. What this means is that if an opportunity should arise with careful consideration you might want to take it. Sometimes the window of opportunity is short and you have to think and act quickly (this is where optimism comes in) and sometimes you have a little longer lee way and can wait. But if you try to be impatient and/or hesitate than that opportunity may never come around again. You can plug this into a lot of situations but I'm not going to list them all. I'll let you use your imagination.
6. Never stop learning. I think this one is pretty self explanatory. Each day I find myself learning something new about life and myself. So never stop learning for if you think you have reached the top the only place left to go is you know where.
7. Stand behind your words and take responsibility for your actions. Again I think this one is self explanatory. Choose your words wisely and do what you say not say what you might do. Like my mother told me if you tell the truth than you never have to look behind and cover your tracks. You can have a free conscious. It will relieve a lot your stress in life. Do what you say and own up to your actions.
Also in writing this it will help me not only remember some of them for later but give me something to read if I get lost along the way. The circle of life. :) <-- dont know why I added this but I think I will keep it in here.
