Guiding philosophy - what keeps you grounded?

1cand0it2

I think many of you have realized I am very optimistic. I like to think the best of people, and I work at it. I didn't have an idyllic childhood (divorced parents, deadbeat father, near poverty, blah, blah, blah, sad sob story.)

However, I have much for which I'm thankful.

I also have several guiding principals. Most I have learned from others, so I always like to hear how others live their lives and interpret the world.

Here is one of my favorites:

Everyone is somebody's weirdo. (Or Laura, in your case, a newfoundland!! LOL)I love this one. It confirms what I've always known about myself, but also helps me understand that we all are, which makes me...normal!

What's yours?

RunawayCurves

I confess I tend to lean a bit toward pessimism by default but I do try to see the positives too.
*Prepare for worst, hope for best and good stuff is a pleasant surprize.
*Look for the best in others and treat them accordingly while also being a bit guarded on some level until proven one way or the other.
*I have numerous complaints about life the universe and everything but I usually conclude, oh well for better or worse I exist in this whatever life is thing and may as well roll with it and enjoy what I can until I leave this body of natural causes and discover what is or is not beyond.
*When I get disheartened by impossible for me media standards of beauty, intelligence and conventional success. I remind myself of the fact that vast majority of globe come nowhere near those impossible standards. I remind myself of the many people who value lives which are so very much more challenging and less comfortable than mine, many of those people find love, value, purpose so I am still in with a shot.
* I like to remind myself that true beauty is in the soul not the body and the best people are those who value the soul in others.
* Most conventionally gorgeous, successful intelligent people remain still dissatisfied and that it is part of human condition to strive for more than we have in some way or other.
* I like that story that goes something like this about happiness where two young fishermen are sat on river bank fishing with fishing rods. Fisherman A asks fisherman B when will you be happy? B says I will work very hard and get my own fishing boat then I will get a bigger boat and then when I am old after a lifetime's hard work I will have a fleet of boats. A says to B so when you have all of that what will you do? B says I will sit back on the river bank and doze in the sun with my fishing line and relax. Then B says to A and what about you when will you be happy? A says I am happy now sitting here dozing in the sun with my fishing line.
A reminder that life does not have to be a long journey to happiness, we can choose to keep things simple and appreciate what we have now.

1cand0it2

Good list! I agree that the "beautiful" and "rich" are no happier than anyone else, and I live close enough to a very wealthy area to know it's true. I also love the "keep it simple" example. In that vein, another of my life lessons (learned the hard way, of course)...

If you cannot have a good time, get a good story! (Perhaps this is a version of "tragedy + time = comedy?"...1st time at the gym? Usually a good story!! Mine was, anyway. I try to either describe what I learned or laugh (sometimes both) about bad times. I try not to let them go to waste, especially when it comes to my (very) unpleasant sisters-in-law. I've been trying to think of what I can include in a novel.