trying to seek

Hi, I'm trying to seek answers to some life questions I have. Feel free to have a look around - introduction - side: e fructu arbor cognoscitur

[trying-to-seek]

on procrastination

Procrastination is quite a hard issue to deal with, at least for me personally. It is far too easy to waste a whole day away, uneasy all the time because of the pressure to do the things you need to do, even though you could do those things first and then waste the day away in a more relaxed manner.

The worst thing about it is that the solution is so easy: just do the things you need to do. There’s no trick, no shortcut. If only there were.

Do the things you need to do first, then you’ll be done. You’ll feel better at the end of the day, even if you do the same amount of work in the end.

[trying-to-seek]

on ambition and motivation

I used to consider myself very unambitious: I just wanted to lead a quiet life in the woods somewhere, with some small comforts but no exaggerated luxury. I used to scoff at anyone who went for the highest possible grades, wanted to get the best paying jobs. “Why bother,” I posed, “if I’ll get a high earning job with what I’m studying anyway.”

Well, turns out I wasn’t unambitious, as I realized later. I was just afraid of going for the things I wanted, and would rather act like I didn’t want them in the first place. I regret it: I have closed a lot of doors for my academic career, some of which I will not be able to open again.

I’m struggling to conclude this post with some kind of concrete, general advise, like I usually try: the closest I can come up with is simply: think about what it is what you want in life, think about it sooner rather than later, and go for it.

It may sound sappy, but I stand by it with all my heart.

[trying-to-seek]

on opinions

Forming an opinion is easy. Forming a well-thought out opinion is hard.

Deciding at one point you think a certain way, and holding onto that thought is the easy way out. Anytime your opinion gets questioned, instead of trying to honestly argue, you’ll get defensive, perhaps even mad, and will not listen to the other party.

Don’t see your opinions as a part of you, but see them as an ever-changing variables.

[trying-to-seek]

on personality

It’s very easy to confuse who you are with what groups you belong to. In fact, you see it happen all the time, and I think we’ve all done it ourselves.

Belonging to a group feels good, especially if you’ve just joined that group. Whether it is a group based on explicit membership, a hobby, a genetic trait you have, a life experience, or whatever else does not really matter. You start copying your peers, and before long the membership becomes a large part of your outward identity.

Your outward identity, however, rarely is who you really are. It’s just a mask we wear to make it easier for others, and especially for ourselves, to determine who we are.

Try to passively be yourself, without forcing anything. When you’re behaving a certain way, question if it’s really you who would behave this way, or if you’re behaving this way because you feel like you should to belong.

You will appear and, more importantly, feel more self assured and independent.

[trying-to-seek]

on liking, disliking, and indifference

Liking something is usually a good thing. You get energy from seeing, being near and interacting with the thing in question.

Disliking something is usually taxing on you. You get annoyed when confronted with it, or might even get angry.

From this, we can conclude that liking things is better than disliking things. That’s easy to say, but doesn’t get us anywhere yet, since some things you just have to dislike: for many people, war might be an example of this.

However, in some cases, things you might not be able to like are things you can be indifferent about, instead of actively disliking them. People near you or songs on the radio might be a good example of this.

If you can, like things. If you cannot like something, be indifferent about it. Then finally, if being indifferent really isn’t an option, opt to dislike it, but don’t let your dislike of it weigh you down.

[trying-to-seek]

introduction

I’ve been trying to seek for a while now. Trying, but I have only been partially successful. I’ve looked at religions, but they’re too dogmatic; I’ve looked at self-help books, but they’re too commercial; I’ve tried to just ignore all the questions I have, but that only makes me anxious.

Since no one seems to provide what I’m looking for, I’ll provide it myself. From now on, I’m going to think up my own philosophy, and note it down on this blog.

This practice is mainly for myself. Publishing it here will help me keep up the pace, and will give me a well-organized overview. If someone else is searching for the same things as I am, all the better. If not, that’s fine as well.

I’m going to make a list of subjects to think about, and post new thoughts once a day, until I think I’m done.