| | But First, a Philosphy Break
Back at the Socrates Cafe, we have a revisit of some questions of the past; ones that didn't get the vote, so to speak. It's nice to see them back in play. Once again, I started to choose the one that I originally put forth. And once again, I came up dry. So...
"What is the ultimate one-sentence philosophy? Why?"
It was rather hard to come up with just one, you know. There are so many. I love Lance Armstrong's philosophy of "Unity is strength, Knowledge is power, Attitude is everything." So true, especially when dealing with the crap that life throws at us--cancer, poverty, ignorance. But I also love the John Denver idea that "You do what you can do and I'll do what I can do, and together, we can make a difference." The concept that it takes ALL of us to do it, that you're only one person...you do what you can do. So many one liners out there that tend to sum it all up...especially that bit about "Everything I know about life, I learned from...(fill it in here--kindergarten, your cat, your dog, the windmill, the frog...whatever.) Or another personal favorite that never gets quoted correctly. From the self proclaimed Demon, Aleister Crowley, he had to get something right, "Do as thou wilt shalt be the whole of the law; and the law is Love, Love under Will." No one ever gets that right.
BUT....
This is gonna sound dumb as hell and I have to confess, I didn't come up with this. I sorta borrowed this from the Tom Lehrer CD, An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer. And yes, I'm putting a link up there for you to look at and hopefully buy this CD. More than worth the money.
Anyway, the track is We Will All Go Together When We Go. He tells this story about his friend, Hen3ry ("The 3 was silent, you see."). Hen3ry has written a rather interesting novel "about a young necrophiliac who achieved his life long ambition by becoming a coroner. (after smattering of laughter) The rest of you can look it up when you get home." Hen3ry also has a unique perspective on life, his basic philosphy being, "Life is like a sewer; what you get out of it depends mostly on what you put into it."
So, you want to know what my one sentence philosophy is? That's it. Life IS like a sewer, you know. Attitude truly is everything. And what you put into your life is pretty much what you get out of it. You can dump the sewage of anger and self pity, the exrement and detritus of insecurity into the sewer and, lo and behold, that's what comes out in the processing plant of the cosmos. What comes flying back at you is probably gonna be worse in most cases. Throw in shit, you bet back smellier shit.
But you can toss in so much more. The positive outlook of what can be, the idea of living up to our potential. Putting forth the best you can be and living to that goal. Never letting anyone tell you how to be or think or react. Never letting something else dictate how your day has to go or how you have to feel towards gays or blacks or hispanics or Satanists. Learning and then putting it out there, what you've learned. If you put out love, you'll get back greater love. It's just that simple.
We have this concept, in my religion. Like usually attracts like, in that the more cluttered you are, the more clutter you attract. Kinda follows that whole bit about Karmic Law--that which you send out, returns to you three-, seven-, or tenfold (depending on which Eastern Philosophy you follow). Isn't that saying the same thing? Life is like a sewer?
So, that's my choice for favorite. Thanks, Hen3ry, for passing that on. Doesn't mean I like the others less and won't follow them. Just means...well, I'm not afraid to laugh with God. And I think humor makes a better point. Don't you?
Peace, fellow babies. Oh, and don't forget to read the little blurb under this. My Mom's got her own blog now. It'll be cool.
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