Two Basic life Philosophies

In the classic As a Man Thinkth, James Allen writes; “From the state of a man’s heart proceed the conditions of his life; his thoughts blossom into deeds and his deeds bear the fruitage of his character and destiny”. We don’t see things are they are, we see them as we are. We don’t see reality as it is, we see it as we see ourselves. We are wearing mental screens through which we filter information from the world around us. We also filter our thoughts. Our destiny is mapped on our minds and hearts, out of which our attitudes and conduct and our deeds spring.  Your perspectives have power because they interpret reality.  How we see ourselves determines our attitudes and behaviours, it also affects our views of others and the world. Your life perspective, your operating paradigms influence how you use your life, the focus of your efforts, the treatment of your neighbour, the value you place on things, and the value you place on love. The way we see life leads to what we do in life. Your life philosophy is everything because it determines everything. It is a person’s life philosophy that determines the thinking minds view of living. It’s the thinking mind’s definition of how life works, the purpose, goals and priorities of life and what is to be expected from life. A person expresses their life philosophy in every thought, word and deed.  Every person has a life paradigm, a philosophic world view. In fact no two are the same. A person’s life philosophy is a mixture of our history, internal scripting, our education, social views, our family views, our conscience, our needs and desires, our self-awareness and our expectations.  But fundamentally we can breakdown all these influences to two basic life philosophies; the philosophy of the world or the philosophy of God. The real choice is between a natural philosophy and a supernatural philosophy. The philosophy of the world today fits into many definitions and terms; secularism, materialism, individualism, hedonism, minimalism, relativism and subjectivism. This really boils down to the philosophy of “I myself and no one else” and they are based on the idea that there is no God or that God is not relevant to today’s world. If my life philosophy is materialistic, my priority is life will be money and things. This is the “I am what I own” philosophy. If my life philosophy is hedonistic, my priority is pleasure and feeling high. This is the” how do I get pleasure from this person or thing?” If my philosophy is minimalism, then my priority is to take short cuts, do the minimum, this is the “What is the least I can get away with?” view of life. If your life view is Individualism, your priority is your own interests, expectations and doing it your way. This is the “What is in it for me?” view of life. The alternative is the philosophy of God; “Love God and love your neighbour”.