From Appendix C of Jordanetics.
All is vanity. What is it that we must bestow our care and diligence upon? Even upon this only: that our minds and wills be just; that our actions be charitable; that our speech be never deceitful, and that our understanding be not subject to error; that our inclination be always set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us.
—Marcus Aurelius
After a modicum of reflection, these are my suggestions drawn from 50 years of various successes and failures.
All is vanity. What is it that we must bestow our care and diligence upon? Even upon this only: that our minds and wills be just; that our actions be charitable; that our speech be never deceitful, and that our understanding be not subject to error; that our inclination be always set to embrace whatsoever shall happen unto us.
—Marcus Aurelius
After a modicum of reflection, these are my suggestions drawn from 50 years of various successes and failures.
- Embrace
the iron. Lifting
weights will not only help you stand up straight, it will make you
stronger, healthier, and more confident. The iron teaches the weak to be
strong and it teaches the strong to be humble.
- Take the
wheel. You are
the ultimate architect of your own decisions and actions. Even if you were
dealt a bad card by life, even if your genetics are inferior, your
upbringing was terrible, and your instincts are suboptimal, you are the
only one who can improve yourself. You are driving and only you can
determine the destination.
- Be the
friend that you want to have. Smiles are contagious. Loyalty inspires loyalty.
Stand by those who stand by you. Give every friend who fails you a second
chance. Only abandon those who have repeatedly proven they cannot be
trusted and do not wish you well.
- Envision
perfection and pursue excellence. You will never achieve
perfection. But if you envision it and you strive for it, you may well
achieve success, and perhaps even excellence.
- Put a ring
on it. Marriage
is the manifestation of love. Children are the manifestation of hope.
Raising a family to serve as the foundation of future generations is how
Man rebels against an uncaring universe, a fallen world, and the spirits
of despair and destruction. Yes, there are real risks, especially in the
current social and legal environment. But they are well worth taking
nevertheless.
- Set your
face against evil. You will
encounter evil within and evil without on a daily basis. Stand against all
of it, without fear, without hesitation, and without remorse. And when you
fail, when you give into temptation, when you are defeated, regroup,
repent, and rise again.
- Do what is
right. Learn to
listen to the still, small voice of conscience. Do what you know to be
right, not what you can rationalize, justify, or excuse. If you have to
talk yourself into something, then you probably already know in your heart
of hearts that you are doing the wrong thing.
- Tell the
truth in kindness. It is too
hard and too exhausting to spend all your mental energies trying to keep
track of an ever-growing multitude of exaggerations, false narratives,
self-serving spins, and outright lies. Just tell the truth, as you best
understand it, without taking pride in it or using it to hurt others.
- Learn the
easy way. You will
always encounter those who are stronger, smarter, and more successful than
you are. Rather than envying them or attempting to tear them down to make
yourself feel better, do your best to learn from them and apply those
lessons to your own life. It is considerably easier and more efficient to
learn from the mistakes of others than it is to make all of those same
mistakes yourself.
- Believe
the mirror. The most
reliably self-destructive mistake you can make is to lie to yourself about
who, what, and where you are, because doing so precludes any real self-improvement.
Be ruthless with your self-assessments, without wallowing in self-pity or
despair.
- Get back
on the horse. Perseverance
is one of the most important skills a man can develop. There is absolutely
no substitute for the confidence and the courage that comes from the
certain knowledge that you will get up again after an opponent, or life,
knocks you down.
- Find a best
friend. Dogs
teach us many things, perhaps the most important of which is what
unconditional love is. No matter how rich and successful a man may be,
there is no life that the addition of a dog would not considerably
improve. And yes, all dogs go to Heaven, obviously, because Heaven would
not be paradise without them.