Matthew’s Ultimate Philosophy For Living
Important Edit: This was published in 2007. I would have been about 15 years old when I wrote it. It is obviously skewed to that effect and I’ve learned and expanded since then. I don’t believe in hiding progression and rough drafts for any reason. Here is a little step back in time for myself and others who knew me at that time.
I was trying to sum up my life’s philosophy in a few words, and realized quite quickly, it just cannot be done. There is not much use in trying to sum something like that up anyhow seeing as you lose so much content, and that is the point: The Content. So here in full I will try to detail this, my ultimate philosophy for life, as closely as possible…
Invincibility
The first and major thing is a feeling of invincibility, the key thought is nothing can touch you; you must first realize, however, that nothing else has any power over you. Not over your soul, not over your mind…nothing; you are free.
“But…” you say, “I am hindered by my boss, my bills, my school…everything; I CAN’T be free.”
It may be true that you FEEL constrained, pinned down by society, free to do nothing without permission. But in reality? All Illusions. They are no more holding you down than I can vanish a card by magic. The truth is that you only feel held down. You FEEL like you can go nowhere, as if you got fired it’d mean the end of your livelihood, as if you quit school your life would turn to ruin, and if you stop paying bills, you might lose your house, and your life… I’d like to look at each example, but first we need to see WHY, why there are no restrictions, and why you are really free. This gets into the depth of the philosophy.
First, You must have no fear, and to do this we need to realize a few things.
1.Material possessions mean NOTHING. “The stuff you own, ends up owning you.”
You DO NOT NEED half of the things you have, and deep down you know this. Do you really need that new car? That boat? That new game system, or line of clothing to make you happy? Will that REALLY satisfy your lust for all the “crap”? No…It WILL NOT. It will do nothing for you except drag you further into the role of consumer, the mindless worker bee going to work everyday to a job you hate, to later buy shit you have no need for.
The Only thing you might need is food and water. But even that need can become less demanding as we look at the next thing.
2.Death. This has to be one of THE BIGGEST fears covering the world, and keeping everyone in check. What are you afraid of? Surely not death itself…there has to be something deeper. That is called the UNKNOWN. We fear anything different, or unknown to us, something we feel we cannot control. But guess what? People are dying EVERYWHERE every day, all the time. In the time it took you to read this, a number of people, a number that you cannot even fathom, just died and were born. I’d like you to actually think about that, read it again even. Every day, people leave us, and new ones take their place, and even a greater number of animals, etc. do the exact same thing…THIS IS LIFE! It is all natural. Even if you want to believe you have no control…that’s fine too, it’s still going to happen, right? So why fear it?
I believe you have heard of an irrational fear? Well this is the case in point, the biggest irrationality of them all. There is no sense in fearing death, afterlife or not. I’m not going to turn this into a religious discussion or article, but what about the afterlife? If you believe in the afterlife, you’re covered, right? You still live on, so don’t be afraid. If you believe in no afterlife, then you’re covered as well, nothing will happen but the death, then it’s over…simple as that.
3.This next thing almost coincides with death, as mentioned above, but it is almost its own thing: PAIN. Same thing, don’t be afraid. We all get hurt sometime; you can’t be afraid of life because of this. If you get hurt bad enough, then you’re covered; we then revert to number 2. However, a little bit of pain shouldn’t matter. Just think about it, pain is really just the nerve reactions of your body, a warning if you will. They’re just saying:
“Hey mate, you might want to stop that; it’s not the best thing for your body.”
You can then choose to listen to them, or tell them to beat it and shut up…you control what your body does. There are various methods of guided meditation and whatnot to block out pain, or you can just build up a healthy tolerance. Sometimes things need to be done, and they happen to hurt. This is nothing but a MINOR inconvenience; don’t let it bother you. If it’s not life threatening…you shouldn’t care. And if it is life threatening, once more…PLEASE refer back to number 2, death does not matter, it happens eventually anyway.
So there you go. You shouldn’t fear anything. That covers the basics I believe; remind me if I’ve forgotten something. You should not be afraid to die, to feel pain, and material possessions should have no big influence in your life. This is not to say you should go cut yourself, burn your house down, and then shoot yourself. Although you now have freedom, unless that is your desire, there is no reason for it.
“Do what you like, not just what you can…”
Now back to previous examples. Let’s say you are fired. Keeping in mind previous lessons, this should be no big deal. Money is a material possession; it has no bearing. The things it purchases are also only material. What is your fear now? You end up on the street? Without a house(material possession)? Maybe you get mugged(fear of pain again)? Or supposedly worse, killed(fear of death)? No, you have no fears, and if living is your wish, you do not need a house, you need food. There are shelters; you might steal, panhandle, or any number of things. I am in NO WAY suggesting this as a preferred lifestyle, only as various options to demonstrate that to the creative mind anything is possible. You must be resourceful; there is something good in every situation, find it and take hold.
There should be no question now, you are becoming free of all these constraints of modern society. These are just so called “worse case scenarios,” and I am just trying to show you that it doesn’t affect you; you are superman’s worse nightmare.
Taking all this to heart, you are invincible; truly nothing can hurt you. I think that ANY scenario you think of now should fall into these categories, and you should see a way that it is fine and will all work out for you. NO LONGER BE AFRAID. YOU MUST LET GO.
Morals, Ethics, and Attitude Towards Others
I believe that one of the biggest first problems we encounter in regard to morals, etc. is the desire for set rules. People generally would like some kind of rulebook, or specific way to live their lives. They want something that will apply to every situation and point them in the right direction and spell out EXACTLY what they should do. Well guess what? There isn’t such a thing, I believe that even the Bible, the so-called book with all the answers, can be a bit iffy at times.
Card games have set rules; board games have definite rules as well…Life DOES NOT, unless of course you are playing the board game Life™, in which case, stop playing, and get back to reading this!
Alright, so we have established there is no set rule, no guiding bright light or sign saying:
“HEY, retard! Yeah you…do this, its the best choice!”
So now, what do we do? Are we lost? No. Just because you may have to think for yourself for once (Oh NO!) there is no reason to despair. On another note, just because there is no SET rules, you can still have general statements or so-called “morals” to help you remember what to do in each circumstance. But really, this is what it comes down to, circumstances…Everything is circumstantial. What you need to do is learn to use logic and a bit of common sense to decide on an appropriate action in each situation.
Just remember the things in the first section, you’re free. You can do whatever you want, but to avoid being completely selfish, you may want to have some “morals” enter into it. Now, let’s say you don’t care, and just want to be selfish and free…Well, in that case, stop reading because we’re talking about ethics and morals here; you can go be selfish and free elsewhere, I don’t really care.
This is coming to a point where it will be hard for me to keep describing what to do. This is YOUR LIFE; no one can tell you how to live YOUR LIFE. I can give examples, and you can see if that fits. Just remember…no set rules; don’t assume to much and don’t think you’re going to just know what to do in every situation. Every thing you encounter in life will most likely be different; it may resemble another situation you were in before, but that does NOT mean it should be handled the same way.
Let’s say as part of your general statement that you believe killing is usually wrong. And that is fine, but what happens when someone is holding a gun in your face? If you have any way to kill him before he kills you…will you take it? What happens to your oh so awesome enlightenment when that mugger pulls out a knife? Sure, you could go back to the invincibility thing, and let him kill you; what would it matter anyway, right? But this is also about being free, so let’s say your desire was to live…what then?
See how this is becoming so complicated? There are probably hundreds of outcomes for EVERY thing that happens in your life and mine. It’s all interconnected, and you can’t control everyone else, but you sure as hell can control your own actions. So whenever you come to a situation, you must take MANY things into account, then act accordingly. There is no Right choice, there is no Wrong. No one is going to punish you, except maybe yourself. Of course…once more, if you are invincible, what punishment would there be for you?
…Exactly.
So in each situation, take into account your general statements for living that apply to this situation. Then you want to factor in what might happen for each choice you make and how it might affect you later, and if that is what you truly want. Then in the end, pull the trigger and hope for the best, any outcome is fine, but if you can choose you might as well pick a “good” one, right?
Now people. A touchy subject. People create even MORE variables in each situation. Everyone is living off their OWN philosophy, all having values and morals of their own, and most of them ready to break those rules and do what they want if the circumstance allows. So they are totally unpredictable, in a predictable kind of way.
I think a big thing that comes into account here is RESPECT. Assume for a moment that everyone is following this philosophy, all doing what they want and being free. Well, what if someone’s desire conflicts with another person’s? AH….What then? If two people that are always right contradict each other, are they both right? This is where RESPECT comes into play. It’s hard to make it through life with No RESPECT for anyone else. People really do treat you like they are treated, and if you give no respect, you will get treated like shit right back.
So likewise, if others treat you with no respect, you have that right (if it agrees with your general statements) to treat them with as little respect. Personally, I believe that RESPECT needs to be earned. When I meet someone, they start with an average respect level. If they treat me bad during conversations, try to talk down to me like I am a child, or treat me as being below them in ANY way, my respect for them goes down, and I make sure they know it. We were created equal supposedly, and if they choose to ignore this, I shall as well. Likewise I am fine giving respect to others, as LONG AS I am getting some back from them.
Now we can come back to the two contradicting people. If my desire for something interferes with someone else’s desire for something contradictory, then I will let it slide and let them have their wish, IF, and I say IF, they have my respect. If they have kept my respect, and have treated my fairly, then I will be the so called “bigger man” and allow them their cake…who cares? However if they do not have my respect, and want to act like they are all high and mighty and better than me — well, then obviously I still get what I want, they can move out of the way. I bet then they’re wishing you were an ally, instead of the enemy they created.
That is my line of thinking. But if you remember, this philosophy is about you being free. SO if your general statements of “morals” differ, that’s cool too. You may believe you should be nice to people whether they are nice to you or not. This is generally accepted in society, and is a fine belief as well, I have no problem with that. I actually live this way often, too; I tend to change every now and then, depends on my current state of logic. But that is the beauty of it…DO WHAT YOU LIKE.
Of Course if I revise it now, it might be, “Do whatever you like, as long as the outcome affects only you; you’re invincible, others may not be. If you have a problem with hurting other people, then do what you like as long as there are no negative effects on those involved, as far as you can see”
New Beliefs, Facts, and Theories.
Constantly in life, you are bombarded by a deluge of “theories,” so called “facts,” and a never ending downpour of utter crap. As a result, we learn from a very early age to try and filter out the crap from the information we may actually need. I think this actually evolved from way back in the day, back when the object of life was SURVIVING, and not just convenience. Back then you had better pay attention to what you need and filter out the distractions or you may find yourself in a bad situation with no idea what the hell to do.
My problem now a’days is the millions of people all over the world who are so certain about the things they “KNOW,” they have all these things that they are so sure about. But here’s the paradox, everyone is so sure that what they know is right, and yet everyone is thinking something different and controversial. They cannot all be right, because their ideas cancel out each other in some cases. So in the end, I say that you all are full of shit! You know nothing. Everything is a theory…why? Because sometimes even our scientists don’t agree. One of them proves one thing, and one proves another.
Sure some things MAY have truth, some may be completely accurate. But since it’s hard to know that, I try not to commit to any one belief. Sure…this makes me so-called “flip-flop”, and I realize that. But at least it doesn’t make me look like an arrogant ass parading around spouting utter crap, saying I know all these things when I don’t.
I know some things at least seem logical to me, and I will tell people what I think, but I try to phrase that carefully.
“Well, to me…from evidence and research that I’ve seen, I think it is most logical for this to happen, but it could also be this, and here’s why…”
See there, I can give both sides, and tell why each thinks the way they do, then let whoever I’m talking to decide on their opinion. The only real so-called fact I can find is this:
“ANYTHING can be justified. I can prove or disprove anything, even the same thing in the same sentence. I know nothing, but I think everything.”-Grant Horton
All in all, my advice is to listen to everything. Pay attention and take in as much information as you can. Store it all away. Your brain is NOT GOING TO EXPLODE. It can hold as much as you can pick up in a lifetime. If you do end up using the information, it will stay readily accessible. I would also say try not to be so certain about things until you REALLY KNOW what you are talking about. And when you hear a new belief, don’t just write it off as crap, but find out why people support that, and how they came to do so. Everyone has their reasons, and you might learn something new. Keep an open mind, and that means not blocking it with biased thoughts leaning one way or another.
