Consider These Axioms and Perspectives to Avoid Unnecessary Suffering
You’ll have a higher chance of making decisions that are in your best interest.
Wisdom is what you learn from the mountain of mistakes you make in life. — Estela Portillo, “The Paris Gown”
Some of what I’m about to list I remember intuitively knowing as a kid; sometimes, children are endowed with the most understanding wisdom. Other snippets are evoked from slight exposure to ancient Western philosophy. Most importantly, most of this comes from the pain of having done the opposite of what I’m going to state.
Without further ado, here are some valuable insights I wish I had employed years ago, but have only had the sense to grasp now.
I. Just because people exhibit sh*tty behavior does not excuse you to do the same. Acting out in a less-than-agreeable way makes your actions no better than theirs.
II. You’re not supposed to have it all figured out. Other people are supposed to help. This fact does not make you any less intelligent.
III. If you expect to have the best in life, you must be willing to endure the worst and do what the average person will not. One cannot experience joy without pain and sorrow.
IV. In developing character, you do not simply attain patience, discipline, fitness, or any skill, but you practice, consistently, to reach and then keep these things once you reach them.
V. Despite what a person or other life form is made of, it deserves respect because of the mere fact that it exists.
VI. Bad things happen when you go against yourself. Listen to your inner voice of reason. You will know it when it speaks.
VII. You cannot supersede, circumvent, or avoid pain. It will linger until you go through it. The same goes for work and attaining skills. There is no short-cutting the process.
VIII. Life is supposed to be challenging.
IX. Except on rare occasions, panicking and losing one’s composure does not help any situation. (Under certain circumstances it may, though: For example, when someone yells and shrieks for help, others may come to give direly needed aid.)
X. Every effort put in your corner helps. Although you might not see the results of your actions bear fruit for a long time, they will harvest and account for something in due time.
XI. There are no permanent solutions, just prolonged problems. Do not wish for your problems to cease, for problems shall always exist, but wish, always, to be strong enough to overcome them.
XII. Enter challenges and deadlines with the genuine belief that they will be completed, and more likely than not, they will.
XIII. What you see before you was created by someone smarter than you in certain respects, and it all began with a thought. How, then, can life be a “void”?
XIV. Do not always rely on others to do the thinking for you. Sometimes, it is unavoidable to follow others’ directions and expertise, but when possible and necessary, always double-check what you can for yourself.
XV. Every action you take is embedded in your psyche which forms your opinion of yourself and what you deserve. Nothing is unaccounted for in the body and concept of the soul.
I hope you find these axioms and perspectives useful. If you do, I’d highly recommend reading “The Enchiridion” by Epictetus. (You can read a great translation of the text online for free). People also tend to love Marcus Aurelius’s “Meditations”. I say, “Read whatever may come your way.”
