One of the subjects I studied at University was philosophy. Not that you would know that if you were ever to sit down and chat with me. Whatever tenuous knowledge, parked in short-term memory, I once had of the works by the great and the good in the world of philosophy has long since evaporated. In my defence it was a long time ago.
However I do seem to have a developed a sort of philosophy which I try to live by. Not I am afraid a system developed from original and insightful thinking. Neither were my *rules* garnered by perusing the pages of philosophical tomes. Rather they were gathered from here there and everywhere (sources include: articles in newspapers and magazines; overheard conversations; tweets; and some favourite quotes). Below are some of them.
- Be mindful of Karma! My definition of Karma may not be the same as the dictionary one; to me it means that whatever I do will be returned in a like manner. This is a concept which I always find easier to explain by use of the vernacular phrase ‘what goes around comes around’.
- Character is what you do when you think no one is looking.
- Bear in mind that what you say about other people says more about you than it does about them.
- Remember that everything passes both the good and the bad.
- ‘It’s never too late to be what you might have been’ This George Eliot quote is in my top ten favourite quotes.
- Always look on the bright side. There is an Alain de Bottan tweet which reminds me to try to seek the positive in whatever happens. It is ‘The difference between hope and despair boils down to an ability to spin different stories from the same facts’.
- ‘Happiness depends on ourselves’. And yes this is a quote form a famous ancient Greek philosopher, one Aristotle.
Do you have any *rules* to live by that you would be prepared to share.
Have a lovely weekend.
Just Add Attitude 
So much food for thought here! I must say that I think you’ve chose a lot of very useful, uplifting ideas and attitudes as your guides, and I like that very much. And I like your illustration for the post too. 🙂
I have to confess that my own favorite statement of the bright-side philosophy is Eric Idle’s wonderfully chirpy song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”! It’s truly disarming, and while it’s silly on the surface, it’s irresistibly honest too. The application of it on film is of course treated outrageously, but in the end that only heightens the effect for me, maybe just because I have a tendency to be facetious and absurd about serious stuff fairly often anyway.
Thank you Kathryn. I am going to see if I can find a video on U Tube of Eric Idle’s ‘Always look on the Bright Side of Life’. I like what you say about. 😉
I loved all of these.. especially that “character is what you do when you think no one is looking” … that one is sooo true!!
I too am very taken with ‘character is what you do when you think no one is looking’. I have come across it many times, most memorably when I read a interview with a climber. I don’t remember all the details just that he had been left on the mountain to a almost certain death but was rescued and against all the odds survived. He, I think, used the phrase when describing how other climbers walked past him on their descent down the mountain.
I think you can choose to be happy. Wake up expecting to have a good day and it is more likely that you will.
I agree totally Debra; it is a choice.
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