more life philosophy

We’re talking about existentialism, sorta. Or existentialism vs fate or what have you. Jaime sez:

[quote]
This is taking me back to a conversation I had with a friend (Hi Friend!) after Bad Things Happened where I said something about having faith in the universe. He told me you can’t have faith in the universe, just hope that things will turn out right. I’m not sure I believe that. Anyway, this conversation led me to thinking about the difference between faith and hope. For me it *is* easier to believe than to hope. Hope entails some kind of opportunity for failure, while belief suggests that everything *will* be alright, no matter what simply because it has to be. Life goes on, no? Regrets are merely leaves fallen from the tree. You don’t see the tree worrying, do you? I guess for me, its more important what you do with the outcome than the outcome itself.

*wanders off into the forest*
[/quote]

*blink* *blinkblink* nicely put.

That takes me off on a whole ‘nother trail. It’s simple and sustainable. How far away is it from religion? Is it religion? I totally agree that it’s far more important what you do with the outcome than what the outcome itself is. If you don’t learn, if you don’t move forward, then there’s no point. You’re just taking up space, really. So I like the way that philosophy keeps you in motion. Qe sera (sp?)

Again, my own feeling is similar, or at least it hinges on accepting things before they even happen. Maybe you could sum it up by saying there’s no use crying over spilt milk. There are differences though. I keep my sanity by bypassing the whole universal accountability thing. I use fate as a convenience sometimes, sure, and I’ve been through many situations where Fate is certainly screaming for acknowledgement. Mostly though, I think we are ourselves in charge of our lives, and things happen to us that are beyond our control, but we also have a lot more control over our lives than most of us take advantage of.

I’m one of the luckiest sods to ever draw breath. I’ve always been fed and clothed, always had a roof. I’ve always had at least one good friend. I make a point of appreciating my good fortune as often as I can. It’s only a tiny step to turn that appreciation into thankful prayer, but that’s not a step I can take. That’s the existential part of me. I’ve been lucky, yes, but I don’t attribute that to any greater power. And if one day I’m before this huge set of pearlescent gates and some guy in a white dress is looking down his nose at me I suppose I’ll have some explaining to do, but I’ve always strongly felt that if there is a higher power that wants us to live life by a certain set of rules laid out in a book somewhere then I should get my ticket in purely by virtue of being a good person and trying my best. And I think my heart would do just fine weighed against the feather of Maat.

Hmm. I sorta took this convo to the next level.

Let me take it back down a notch. My life philosphy is pretty simple. You can make things happen, and sometimes things just happen. I’ll tell you what helps more than anything else though– if you’ve got friends in your corner, even just one good friend you can trust, then everything else is manageable.