Personal Philosophies

A lot of my personal philosophy's, mantras and affirmations come from the old country sayings of my grandparents. For instance, three sayings that I've stolen from my grandmother are:

"What you eat, don't make me shit."
"I've been talked about worse, by better."
"Common sense ain't so common."

Those little gems have pretty much guided my interactions with people from a very early age. Here's a couple of other gems I've picked up:

"You reveal your character not only by the company you keep, but also by the company you avoid."
"Only a fool confuses Fate with Destiny. Fate is what happens to us, Destiny is what we make in spite of our Fate."
"The less a man makes declarative statements, the less apt he is to look foolish in retrospect." (one of my personal favorites)
"If you're depressed, you're living in the past. If you're anxious, you're living in the future. If you're at peace, you're living in the present."

Finally my own personal mantra:

"Up and at em. I will not let yesterday’s woes spill into today’s joy. Happy to be alive, & taking this life one day at a time."

 

Man, I needed that today. Awesome.

 

My personal mantra is really just a reaffirmation: "You'll be fine." It's incredibly vague, but I try to apply to most situations. Plus, it keeps me level-headed and confident.

 

I'm actually currently reading the thoughts of Marcus Aurelius.

 

I hope this thread picks up steam the way the others do. I love this.

Anyway,

"When people show you who they are, believe them."
-Maya Angelou



This is one that I have always loved from the bible and African King has it as a quote of his:

"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
-Jeremiah 29:11

"Don't throw the baby out with the bath water"
-Uknown

 

I've always loved the first one, never understood the last one lol. I get it in the contextual sense, but I don't get how it actually makes sense. lol

 

Lol.

 

I remember reading about stoicism when I was in middle/high school it defiantly has its strong points especially if your going through hard times or if your into alpha/Spartan type of thinking.

 

Well take it quite literally lol. What you consume, doesn't affect my digestion, moreover, what you say, do or believe doesn't change who I am as a person or how I conduct my business.

 

I actually like the philosophy of stoicism. I try to minimize the impact of emotions on my life(which isn't always easy). But I think it's a worthy goal. If you can't master yourself an your own thoughts how can you master anything else? I think the world would be a better place if people(especially men) learned to be aware of and master their feelings. That seems to becoming a dying art. I see pop culture encouraging emotionalism and emotional "expression" especially in boys and young men which I think is counterproductive.
When things get tough in my own life is think of the words of Henry Ford II. "Never complain, never explain."

 

I couldn't disagree more lol. While I do concede that one should be able to control their emotions or else they will forever be controlled by others, Historically men have been told NOT to emote and even act like their emotions don't exist, which has led to more problems. Expressing oneself is only a problem if you do it inappropriately, and the only way to gain control of them is to acknowledge and deal with them. "Never complain , never explain" leads to a lot of broken people and broken relationships.

 

I have two, for the most part. "Dont FULLY trust anything that walks on two legs unless you spent 9 months inside of it" and "Keep pushing forward. No matter how bad it gets, someone else has had it worse and made it through". Not sure if that last one is really a philosophy or more so a Mantra, LOL

 

Now the pendulum has swung too far in the opposite direction. I see lots of boys and young men who can't control themselves. They get distraught over things that shouldn't even matter. That is causing problems. As for "never complain, never explain" I don't take the never part too seriously. You gotta know when to apply it. Which brings me to another part of my personal philosophy, which is to avoid absolutes and to avoid falling into the mental trap of absolutism. Many of the world's problems who are caused by people who become rigid absolutists in their thinking.

 

Ok, now that you've fleshed it out, I can get with this. I think things kind of have to go to both extremes in order to meet in the middle. I totally argee with the last parts about absolutism.

 

"Don't FULLY trust anything that walks on two legs unless you spent 9 months inside of it"

-Damn...

Lol. Never heard that one before.

 

"On the surface I seem fine, maybe even levelheaded, but underneath it all emotions and stray thoughts run wild. I can't focus like I used to and I seem to get upset more than I used to so I know it's time for a change and it must start internally. I think society has fostered a community that allows people's emotions and imaginations run wild, media and the internet sensationalizes everything and everyone is on edge! Got me all on edge lol, we need more balance and stability..along with ways to get express and deal with our feelings not amp them up!"

I am the same way. That's why sometimes it's best for me not to comment on certain topics because of this reason. We all have a piece of the puzzle and this threads commentary is yet another reminder of that.

 

Hardship, pain, suffering, and ultimately, death – these are all parts of life that Stoicism would consider as natural as they are inevitable. Taking a highly fatalistic approach to all of existence’s trials and tribulations, both philosophies maintain that since you can’t exercise any control over them, you should instead spend your time in the struggle to control yourself.

This is where the term “Stoic”, in reference to indifference to hardship, originates. It’s the mentality that all of life’s ups and downs should be taken in stride.
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Dude, one last time. I love this thread
.

 

I wouldn't consider you to be emotionally out of control. The fact that you're able to keep your feelings on the inside tells me you have a great deal of control. Being able to control ones emotions doesn't mean you don't feel anything it just means you either don't let it effect how you present yourself in the world or you don't let your emotional turmoil get in the way or effect the tasks you have to perform. In my experience when people know they can get a rise outta of you or manipulate you using feelings they'll do it. That is a weakness men, especially black men, and especially black gay men can't afford to have.

 

That's what's up. I really appreciate that man.