thoughts, words, deeds

finding the exceptions

War Chest Wednesday! From a previous challenger...

What is your "philosophy of life"...something that guides the way you live? Why that?

I have never sat down and thought about what my philosophy of life is. I actually have a hard time trying to come up with a pithy saying that encapsulates everything that I believe. I mean, as soon as you do, you find some exception. So, perhaps that’s my philosophy. Every rule has an exception.

Except when it doesn’t.

Which doesn’t say much about how I choose to live. I do try to live my life so that someone looking at what I do would be able to tell that I’m trying to be a good person. Why? Because I’m trying to be a good person, and I want my life to reflect that, without hypocrisy or guile. There are times I fall short, especially when I’m dealing with my family, who know best how to annoy me enough to forget about anything else. I also try not to be judgmental. I mean, if I choose to live my life one way, it’s my choice, and no one else has to do similarly. Just don’t try and make me change how I live so that you’re more comfortable.

I also tend to be confused—I find that living in a state of perpetual confusion gives me an opportunity to be surprised and to react in such a way that I am seldom bored. I dislike being bored. I was one of those young children who would play with a toy long enough to figure out how it worked, and then abandon it because it had no more wonder to offer. So, I try to live life in such a way that I’m not bored, and that comes with an attitude of confusion (you could call it wonder) where I’m willing to look at everything that comes my way as if it were new.

Except when I don’t.