A glimpse into my personal philosophy

by Blair Warren

A few months back I began writing my own personal “life philosophy” - a collection of the most powerful lessons I’ve ever learned.  I review, revise and hone these insights virtually every night and doing so has made a tremendous difference in my life.  Since many of these insights are very personal, I have no plans to share them as a whole with anyone except those closest to me.  However, there are some I’d like to pass along.  I’ll post others here and there in the future, but for now, here’s what I think is the most important one of them all:

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Our knee-jerk interpretations of the world are rarely accurate, never complete and yet appear to be both.  To make matters worse, we have been conditioned to view these interpretations as products of our “true” selves as they arise without effort and in predictable patterns.  They are spontaneous and understandable and thus, “feel” natural.  Because we so readily identify ourselves with them, this mish-mash of impulsive, erratic thoughts literally runs – and often destroys – our lives. 

It is imperative to understand that these interpretations are not “us” – they are reflex.  “We” are the observers of these thoughts.  The moment we understand this, they no longer bind us.  We are then free to choose other ways of viewing the world.  Even if these ways do not occur to us naturally, we can arrive at them if we only stop and think.

These alternative ways of viewing the world are not make-believe.  In fact, they are more valid than our automatic perspectives because they are born of reason, not reflex.  The ability to choose and live from a different perspective is what separates us from the lower animals.  To not acknowledge and develop this ability is to be a lower animal.

Posted on Thursday, July 07, 2005 at 07:37 AM

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For more information visit www.BlairWarren.com