A Philosopjy of Life

book.

CHAPTER I

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN PHILOSOPHY AND THE POWER OF THE MIND

There are many definitions of the word philosophy. Some describe philosophy as the general principles of a field of study; others, as the study of the nature of knowledge and existence, and the principles of moral and esthetic value; others, as the wisdom or insight applied to life itself. From all these definitions, I have selected for purposes of this book the one that defines philosophy as wisdom and insight applied to life itself. I call it the PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE.

Human beings live their lives guided by their way of thinking. Scientific research has shown that people act according to the way they think. If you think yourself as ambitious, you will gear yourself to perform in such manner. If you lack ambition you will drift along doing what others tell you to do. The power of the mind is immense.

Undoubtedly, the genes a person inherits and is born with, shape their way of thinking and acting in life. Chemical and electric impulses in the brain also change the way we think and act. Psychiatry, the branch of medicine that deals with mental, behavioral or emotional disorders of the mind, basically tries to correct these chemical and electrical imbalances generally using drugs. The importance of understanding and changing the workings of the mind through controlling its chemical and electrical functions can assist us in changing the way we think, see the world around us or interpret reality in order to live a more fruitful existence. Nonetheless, this discipline is still in its embryonic stages and we have a long way to go before deciphering the full power of the mind.

Let me share the following stories to show you the effects of the mind on behavior. These are true stories of two teen girls of approximately the same age growing up in the same city. Lina was a rebellious teenage girl who was brought up in warm and loving home environment and who had similar at-home experiences as her brothers and sisters. For reasons unknown to the parents, the girl was at times unhappy and depressed, while at other times, she was happy, engaged and gregarious. All those around her wondered why these constant changes in behavior and temperament. With no insight into her behavioral problem, she was left to fend by herself, hoping that with time her moodiness would go away as she matured in age. Sadly enough she never improved and lived an unfulfilled life. On the contrary, another girl, who I will call Anna, had also some behavioral problems. Anna barely ate. At first, her parents thought she was trying to maintain her nice slim figure, but when her eating habits became so bad that she started to loose weight rapidly and looked sick, they decided to act. At the urging of her parents she sought medical assistance. Further analysis of her behavior by a qualified psychotherapist revealed that her self image was tarnished due to chemical and electrical imbalances of the mind. Upon this discovery she was placed promptly under treatment and recovered. The above examples show the importance of those around the teenagers to recognize certain changes in adolescent behavior as possible anomalies which with proper identification and medical care by a psychiatrist or qualified mental health professional can be corrected. When this is done, young people can live healthy lives by changing the way they see themselves.

Psychology, the science or study of the mind or behavior, also tries to change the way people think through psychoanalysis and other mental health techniques. It tries to improve the human behavior and mental attitudes generally imprinted in the human mind during the early years of life, that is, from birth to age twelve approximately. The childhood experiences young children have are saved in the brain and is the basis for future behavior in life. These early imprinted experiences at times are barriers to personal growth if not dealt with a balanced philosophy of life.

A twelve year old boy and his best teenage friends were off in a small boat to an island near his hometown for an afternoon of fun and collection of sea shells for a school project. After having a good time swimming around the island and picking-up sea shells, the older teenagers started the outboard engine, engaged the reverse gear and carelessly pulled off leaving the young boy ashore. When they realized their error, they tried to come to shore but could not engage the boat’s forward gear or straighten the engine, so the boat went around in circles. It was six in the evening and it was getting dark, so the boys decided it was safer to swim to shore which was more than a mile away. Although they all could swim well, including the twelve year old boy, it was a quite difficult stride for him due to the long distance to shore and heavy under currents. Luckily they all made it to the shore. This frightening experience was saved in the young boy’s mind and for a long time he disliked the sea and was quite afraid of swimming. The bad memory of this outing was so powerful that it took him many years to accept that swimming could be a safe and fun sport, and that his children should not be prevented of enjoying the beauty of the sea and the beach just because he thought differently.

What I am saying is that human behavior and the way we think, or our philosophy of life, is directly affected by both, the way our mind functions physically and the experiences already saved in our minds. One must remember that people are not creatures of logic, but creatures of emotions with prejudices and motivated by other factors such as pride, vanity, etc. From one of my readings, I remember a statement that there are three kinds of people: the wills, the wont’s and the cant’s. The first accomplish everything; the second oppose everything; the third fail in everything. I truly believe that we can shape to some extent our PHILOSOPHY of life, if we study the experiences of others who have a PHILOSOPHY of life that has been successful and have made their life worth living.

What is really important in life? What should a PHILOSOPHY of life entail? What are the critical areas we should consider if we are to live a happy and successful life? I would say these are: health, love, financial welfare, friendships and sense of community which could also include political involvement, and pursuit of spiritual/religious goals. If we do not have a sound PHILOSOPHY in each of these areas, we might feel something essential is missing from our lives and derail in the wrong direction, thus living an unfulfilled existence.

Let us consider a most famous writing by St. Thomas Acquinas: Oh Lord, let me act on things I can control and influence, let me accept those things I cannot control nor influence, and let me have the wisdom to know the difference. This thought is full of wisdom and pragmatism. What a different world it would be if most of the people would apply this thought to their actions and make it part of their PHILOSOPHY. Many people do not act on things they can control. They let them drift along being afraid and unsure if the outcome would be acceptable to others. How many people that you know do not accept those things that they cannot control, such as an illness, and become very sad from that point on, throwing the towel and ruining their lives. But the important thing is to know the difference between what you can control and what you cannot control. To know it will require hard thinking in many situations, and many individuals do not spend the time and thinking effort required and take the wrong actions. Let us start shaping our PHILOSOPHY of life by instilling in our minds and practicing this famous thought by St. Thomas Acquinas.

I believe the important thing in life is to have a sound and balanced PHILOSOPHY that we can apply to the different situations that happen to us; and take the opportunities presented or available to us at a given point to fulfill our needs and become satisfied and accomplished, which will generally lead us to a sense of happiness. What is the right PHILOSOPHY? Of course there is not always one right way of doing things. In many occasions, there are various right ways of doing things, some better than others, but all suitable. What is important is to pinpoint the wrong way or ways, so as to avoid them.

For example, if you are a pessimist by nature, it would be an error to gather or seek advice from people who are also pessimists. Pessimists should talk to optimists and seek their friendship in order to enrich their minds with positive ideas. For the same token, those who are optimist to an extreme, should talk to pessimists and consider their views in order to temper their way of thinking and be more realistic. But knowing what to consider and what not, based on a good philosophy, is what is important.

Let us start looking at the various basic areas or components of a philosophy of life we have identified where a philosophical thinking is important. While you read these passages, try to apply them to your own life situations and analyze why you agree or disagree with my thinking. This might help you define your own PHILOSOPHY of life on each of these areas.

In the following chapters, I will discuss each of the critical and important philosophical areas identified above and will discuss them separately, and later consider them on an integral basis which is the way they actually happen in life. We will deal with many typical and historical life situations and will analyze what I think is a good approach to handle them successfully.

CHAPTER II

HEALTH PHILOSOPHY

A wealthy man has cardiovascular problems that hampers him to accomplish many activities and enjoy life. A poor man has the same problems and can neither fully enjoy life. The former has the means to take better self care through better medical treatments while the poor man cannot. Yet that poor man may live a happier life than the rich man because his frame of mind, or his way of thinking and accepting what has happened to him, is different.

Samuel Johnson, the English author, wrote: Health is certainly more valuable than money, because it is by health that money is procured; but thousands and millions are of small avail to alleviate the tortures of the gout, to repair the broken organs of sense, or resuscitate the powers of digestion. Poverty is, indeed, an evil from which we naturally fly; but let us not run from one enemy to another, nor take shelter in the arms of sickness. This is an encompassing thought that brings out the importance of health.

Health, without a doubt, is the most important aspect of life. Good health facilitates achievements in life. Good health gives you the means to improve your financial situation; facilitates love in whatever dimension you are thinking of love; allows you to do good deeds to your neighbor and also allows you to think about your spiritual dimension as human beings that have a mind to think and/or to believe, or reject what cannot be understood by our human minds.

Our health, mental and physical, to certain extent depends on those genes we are born with. In some cases these genes make us prone to a deficient immune system that allows the development of many diseases that others never get. In other instances, for example, the genetic factor makes us prone to depression or other serious mental illness. Well, as soon as you discover this fact, you must act accordingly and plan your life activities with the aid and counsel of an effective physician knowledgeable in your type of deficiency. You must set up your frame of mind to take care of this problem and control and steer it positively to minimize its negative effects on your life. Many persons that know of his/her unhealthy state may throw down the towel, that is, give up. From then on they are unhappy and may start a negative chain reaction on the other key elements of our life previously mentioned with the effect of ruining their lives and the lives of those around them.

You might say that accepting and dealing constructively with an illness is easier said than done. Right. But it can be done by the common individual that comprises over 80 percent of our population in the developed world, if they have the proper health philosophy. Remember that Carlo Magno and Leonardo Da Vinci were epileptics who overcame their illness and changed the world.

Health is so important that everybody should read whatever he/she can about it and its developments and make up his/her mind and adapt their specific lives to those new discoveries on good health. This action helps you to improve your philosophy on health and life itself.

You do not have to be a physician to know about many details of the working of the human body and the basic needs that keeps you healthy. Assuming you are not ill, health is maintained by developing continuously good eating habits, proper diet and maintaining a reasonable level of regular exercise throughout your life. I am convinced that the two basic things that you must do to keep good health which are under your complete control, are: (1) to watch what you eat and (2) do regular and effective aerobic and non-aerobic exercises. It is understood that things like smoking, using drugs or excessive alcohol, etc. should be avoided since these can take off ten to twelve years off your life even if done moderately in some cases.

There is no doubt that health lies in toil and hard work, that is, there is a need of constant awareness to make daily decisions as to what you eat that, to the best of your knowledge, is healthy and nutritious. I do not want to go into details of what is nutritious, but just a few thoughts to consider what you should eat. One of the most important considerations is to reduce your fat intake to about 20 percent in your diet. Most food packaging contains the fat content in grams per serving. You can analyze what you are eating and should purchase those foods that are low in fat content. Saturated fat, or that found in meats, sausages, ham, etc. should be avoided or limited since it is a major cause of thickening or clogging of the arteries, thus causing blood flow problems and heart malfunctioning. So, common sense tells you that you should eat a balanced diet, low in fat. Therefore, eat white meat, fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, some carbohydrates as contained in rice, beans, whole wheat cereals, etc. It is very easy and fun to eat well. Just put your mind to work on it and you may even eat tastier food, but much healthier than what you may be eating now. Just use your common sense and willpower. Read nutritional books and writings by knowledgeable authors, think them through and practice what you learn.

In addition, it is not without toil that you separate some time every day, or every other day, to perform aerobic exercises and, to a lesser extent, perform non-aerobic exercises to keep your muscles toned and your body healthy. But remember, that it should be done with moderation, as it is no fun to preserve health by too strict a regimen that would cause excessive hardship to your life. No one should neglect his or her health and thus become your own burden and perhaps to others.

Nowadays that we eat so many different foods grown in unknown areas of the world that can be contaminated by heavy or light industry waste, it is necessary as a means of prevention to have an annual good medical examination to include those key areas of the men’s and women’s body that are more prone to develop cancer. Just as an example: for men, it is the prostate gland and for women, are the breasts. This is simple common sense, but you must have the will to act and overcome any fear or shameful situations you might think may happen because you are not giving the proper priority to what is important. Medical statistics show that keeping a good and healthy low fat diet and doing moderate exercises will help in reducing cancer and heart disease.

On a regular physical examination, the generalist doctor found irregular heart beats on Jason, a forty year old professional. The person himself did not feel anything abnormal. The generalist physician referred him to a cardiologist. When examined by the cardiologist and seeing the results of the EKG it was clear that the professional had irregular heart beats. The next test included a Holter test to record the heart beats during a 24 hour period. The results of this test showed also the irregular heart beats. This patient still felt all right and kept working normally, although he was worried to some extent about his physical situation and so was his doctor.

The next exam was a sonic test of the functioning of the heart. This test result was normal. His blood pressure was slightly high and the doctor prescribed a diuretic to reduce the blood pressure. This drug, although reducing the blood pressure, caused other side effects such as some weakness and slight impotency. The drug was eliminated.

This person enjoyed a satisfying job, exercised regularly and had good eating habits, yet the problem aroused unexpectedly and its cause was not actually physical, but mental due to some overstress in his work in combination with his life situation at that point in life. Stress, many times unnoticed, is a cause of many illnesses and even deaths if not recognized and acted upon promptly. The processes that a stressful situation starts in your body system may be a faster heart beat and breathing rate, tense muscles specially in the back of your neck, dilation of the eyes’ pupils, and the increase in adrenaline flow (hormones and neurotransmitters). These body processes are aimed at getting your body ready to face a situation created by your mind which may be caused by an insult, bad or good news, meeting an enemy, meeting a person you love, etc. If this stress persists for a prolonged period of time, it may directly affect your health causing symptoms such as high blood pressure, arrhythmia, ulcers, headaches, diarrhea and muscular tension, among others. It could affect your immunological system causing serious illnesses such as cancer. There are many writings on how to control and manage stress. Physical exercises, a good nutrition, a good organization of your time, love, religious devotion, etc. help reduce stress in your daily lives. Having or developing a positive frame of mind and a good philosophy of life are main ingredients to properly manage stress.

How would you have acted on this person’s situation? Would you become so worried that your job may be affected? Would you have sat doing nothing