All you need to know for a happy life was written on a poster in school.
Don't forget — life's short; enjoy the ride, it can always be worse. Embrace the suck, but look both ways first, and always hold hands with your battle buddy. Treat weird people like yourself, but don't eat the candy.
Oh, and hang in there, baby!
It was all right there and we missed it. The title of my life sciences dissertation is bit of a generalization, but you'd think someone would have at least hinted these were transformative masterpieces. I can picture the concern in the kitten's eyes while it dangles from a clothesline. Was the kitten worried I would discover its secrets? Hang in there, baby, indeed.
Except we really did learn these lessons…and promptly forgot them. In addition to the opening sayings, I bet you know every one of these:
-The Golden Rule, so simple and yet if applied, would be world changing.
-Caveat Emptor (Buyer Beware, also there’s a sucker born every minute), no more fake news anyone?
-Carpe Diem (Seize the Day or fortune fortune favors the bold), anyone doing any personal improvement to-do list conquering?
-Momento Mori (Remember death or Remember you are human) A Stoic phrase that is both an admonishment to live life and to be humble.
I could go on and I am sure each of you is counting off many more…I hope you'd laugh remembering these and maybe a cheesy poster or a teacher who harped on them. Until it hit home. This is what we used to call common sense. This used to matter.
If you laughed with me, I pray you feel the same sense of dread that I feel when realizing that this world could look a wholifferent if we simply enforced common sense as a cultural norm.
The most obvious and absurd place we lost our marbles is our political system. But I am sick of pointing out same cancer only worse each time. Perhaps, one day we'll get this common sense thing going agan and we’ll talk about DC or your local school board. It’s no wonder Thomos Payne -dubbed his greatest revolutionary pamphlet "Common Sense." (What are the odds Common Sense, pamphlet or kitty poster, is taught in school today?)
In our daily lives — most of the shit we get worked up over — isn't within our control, nor does it truly affect you if you took a step back. Traffic? Sports? TV shows?
"Lord, grant me the peace to accept what I cannot change, the strength, to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference." a stoic prayer of the ancient Greeks, borrowed by the Christians and ignored by modern people everywhere except in AA. WTF people?
Just little changes and a resolve to turn common sense into a new personal discipline means you are happier and if more join in things begin to change to a daily focus on the sane rather than insane. Isn't it worth it?
If you have thoughts about my idea on common sense, then leave a comment or ask a question. I would love to hear about the posters you remember. Want to know more about stoicism? It’s a self-discipline that i have long practiced, but recommitted to recently. Me, and a bunch of important historical leaders, if that matters. Let me know and I’ll expand. There is a lot of misunderstanding based on the modern use of the word “stoic” but it is common sense focused and geared toward our daily lives.
So much going on, it’s insane…
Speaking of insane — did you think I would skip unloading on partisan politics? I’ve got a few irons in the fire. I want to develop political pieces a little more. I want to avoid preaching at you and I hope you find it valuable, Right now, my favorite is a guide to handling conversations about politics with real people in our lives — honest disagreement, bad faith arguments, when to bring people to the light, and when to shut them down. This should be a master class.
Momento Mori
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