Personal philosophy

Choosing a personal philosophy is not about what is right or wrong or seeking the truth. It is about choosing a set of guidelines to live your life by. It is about choosing the person you want to be. It can take years or even decades to develop a philosophy that is all your own or you can choose from the many philosophies in existence.

My personal philosophy is a blend of existentialism, secular humanism, and objectivism. This may seem somewhat confusing, but I have found that different people and different situations require a different approach, and that my personal philosophy adapts to these variances. For the most part, I believe that people deserve to live their life in a way that will bring them the most happiness without causing harm to others. The standards and restrictions of morality can cause society to judge those that should not be judged, while at the same time keeping the values of self-preservation.

When looking at the world at face value, there are givers, and there are takers. This is not always true. If I were exclusively a secular humanist, I would accept that there are takers, and as a giver, I would cater to this group and have no qualms with inner workings of human nature. However, I do have issues with this. I believe that it is very important to have relationships that are mutually beneficial without being completely self indulgent. There should be a balance between the greed and self importance of objectivism and the ambivalence of humanism.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to better your situation and to be successful in life. There is nothing wrong with connecting with people that will help you in this process, but losing your “soul” can be detrimental to mental growth and stability. Happiness and determination are not the same thing. Some people never find happiness although the motivation to succeed is there. Happiness is finding the beauty in the human experience. For me, happiness is knowing what I am doing will benefit our species as a whole. Progression and evolution happens when we challenge traditional mindsets.

So far, there has not been a single philosophy that can be universally accepted and practiced, but that is not a bad thing. If we don’t grow, change, and progress through this life, our lives, culture, and race will become stagnant and void of meaning. What is true today may not be true tomorrow, but life is a voyage, not a game that we win or lose. The end does not matter as much as the path we have taken to get there.