Conversations with myself - Part 1

Background

I am in no way giving guidance or offering advice in my blog. These words are a record of my own thoughts, insights and opinions and how I make sense of them in the context of my own experience and life. 

Ive come to conclude in the last year after reading numerous philosophical and associated texts that I am more likely to be a ‘Free (or independent) Thinker’. My personal connection with free thinking is that I am not tied to any one particular school of philosophy, way of thinking or way of living. Instead I prefer to draw from several sources that resonate with me as I have found I favour a blend of numerous yet similar ideas. In doing this I’ve realised that the same ideas or similar ways of thinking are present in many of the schools of thought.

Freedom/Responsibility

These run to the root of who/what we are. The vast majority of people want and even demand their freedom, or perhaps think that they do, without realising what this actually means, involves & requires.

Freedom

This is what we do with our lives given the circumstances of what has been done to us. Essentially this is reality and is dependent on the concept of ‘facticity’. Both freedom and facticity are interwoven, facticity is the facts (reality) that form our life. Genuine freedom brings huge responsibilities along with it. To be truly free we are required to take full responsibility for the way we respond to everything we encounter, the situations that mayor may not occur and our reactions to them in all/every situation.   

Choice

Freedom means we have the choice to be either a victim or to be defiant in the face of our lives. Being a victim is the lazy, easy choice I think. It requires no effort as we are literally choosing to do nothing, take no responsibility and letting things just happen as they will. Victims generally find it easy to complain about life, often having a mentality of “Why me?” When they should really be asking “Why not me and If not me, who else!?” 

Defiance is deciding to take responsibility, making the choice, to face the reality of our situations and then dealing with whatever life throws at us. This is really living as we are making the choice to engage with and take control of our own thoughts, responses and actions. 

Further thoughts I’m intending to expand upon in the future are.

Our lives are nothing less than what we choose to make them.

Until we can accept our mortality we cannot live authentically. We must reach acceptance of this fact or we will continue to convince ourselves that there’s always time because we can always start ‘tomorrow’, until there is no tomorrow. 

The time to live authentically is now, as no future moment is ever guaranteed.

Encountering our mortality can show us how lost we have been in the herd mentality of society and how much we’ve lived in accordance with what we think others see us and expect.

Far from being depressing learning to be comfortable with this gives us energy and purpose in life if we have the courage to accept it and start to live the absolutely best life we can regardless of how much time we may have.  . 

“The trouble is; we think we have time, we don’t, so live every moment as though it is your last, it could well be!”