My Philosophy for Life

Philosophy and Psychology cross paths when they attempt to give identity and purpose to one's existence. Our Philosophy can be how we understand and relate to reality externally. Psychology is can be how we understand and relate to reality internally. 

For a contented and satisfying existence we need to understand reality (both external to us, and internal to us) in terms of Natural laws, so that we embrace values and act consistent with the way the universe works.

A very simple but true example involves our relationship to the physical phenomenon known as gravity. 

Philosophically we can accept or reject gravity's existence. If we reject gravity we will ignore the practical laws of living with gravity, and we will walk off a cliff, fall, and kill ourselves. If we accept it, we will be aware of the practical laws of living with gravity and stay away from the edge of cliffs. 

Psychologically we can find gravity assuring or threatening. If we understand gravity as our ally, we will be able to walk, jump, sit, and lie down with confidence and be at peace with gravity's attributes. But if we understand gravity as a threat, we are likely to curl up into a fetal ball and become, literally, useless, and die of inaction.

A "philosophy of life" can embrace both outward and inward perspectives of who we are and what we are to be. In our sophisticated, modern world, there are many different models of how to understand human life. There are religious models: Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. There are psychological models: Maslow's hierarch of needs, Freud's theory of the ego and id, Jung's Analytical concepts, and Jordan Peterson's Rules for Life. There is also the work of the Greek physician Hippocrates who describes what we call today as the Four Temperaments: Phlegmatic, Choleric, Sanguine, and Melancholic; an outcome of that ancient work is also famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

All of these are ways of understanding reality and how we might, through our free will, balance our lives to find purpose and satisfaction in our thinking and our actions. And studying about all of these, or some of them at least, can help us understand how to think and discuss ways of looking at the world around us, and understanding ourselves inwardly. For example, as a teenager, I wanted to understand both the world and myself, so I spent several weeks one summer categorizing the premises in the Book of Proverbs: "A wise man will hear, and will increase in learning." "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." "If sinners entice thee, consent thou not." etc. 

Philosophically and psychologically, I was raised as an Evangelical Christian. Today I'm a Catholic Christian, and by association I have a lot of respect of Judaism. One concept in Judaism revolves around three actions: Study, Work, and Doing Good for Others. In Catholic Christianity there are the 7 Corporal Works of Mercy, and the 7 Spiritual Works of Mercy. In the Pauline Epistles we find the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. In the teachings of Jesus, we find the Beatitudes. 

All those things are focused on others, not yourself. The epitome of being others centered is the life and death of Jesus Christ. Psychological research reveals that people who help others are the happiest. People that focus on themselves to the exclusion of others lead unhappy lives at best, or at worse end up killing themselves. There is no transcendence in their lives, they are lost looking for meaning in their very limited sphere.  Thus, knowledge of all these models is helpful. But if you turn it all inward, it is destructive. Life is not about us, but rather about others. If we constantly turn inward, we become selfish and self-centered. 

My advice is to develop a Personal Life Mission Statement that is other's centered. Laurie Beth Jones' THE PATH is the best resource for developing such a statement.  I worked on mine for over a month. It is this:

To discover and promote divine truth to those within my sphere of influence.

It’s short, pity, and applies to everything I do, or it eliminates things I think about doing but shouldn’t if I want my actions to have purpose. If my values and actions do not benefit someone else, then they won’t benefit me and my mission or purpose.