Philosophies of Life the Universe and Everything

Now for a few words on philosophy. There are as many philosophies of life as there are people. Some are more useful, workable, or applicable to your situation than others. Philosophies should be fluid and change to fit the realities of your daily life. You know you have one to stick with when you it can be applied to almost any situation.

Is it worth it?  How do you determine rather or not to do something. A simple answer might be, in the long run, "does it bring you money, or does it bring you happiness". Some might replace "happiness" with contentment, but that is unimportant. What is important is that this statement can keep you grounded. Should you ask out that 10, should you apply for that job, should you light fire to your neighbor's lawn. Weigh whatever you are thinking of doing against the standard of "money and/or happiness", it will clear your head, and help you find what you should do. It will lead you to let go of the unimportant, and reach for the best you can do.


Getting revenge is usually at odds with the "money and/or happiness" idea. In the end revenge will usually destroy all parties involved. So if you must get some, follow a few rules. One, make sure it can't be traced back to you. Two, don't do more than get even. Three, don't contact them to gloat. These ideas do take a lot of self-control, but in the end it will work out better if you follow them. It is "eye for an eye" with anonymity, followed by a complete breaking of ties and contact.

Earn it. There are many ways to earn your way. You can work hard, which is the thing most do. You can work smart, which not enough people do. It doesn't matter how, but you need to earn it in some way. Some people steal, and that is fine too. If you planned the theft well enough to get away with it, you earned what you took. It took just as much work to plan and prepare to steal a hundred grand as it would to earn it any other way. This is not an encouragement to commit crime, merely an alternative way of looking at the situation.  Getting away with a crime is the logical extreme of "working smarter", much as starting a business is the extreme of "hard work". It doesn't matter how you earn, as long as you earn.

Sorry there is no real humor this time around. Wanted to be a bit more thoughtful this time around. Would love to hear your philosophies.