Everything You Need to Know About Life
A photo of my daughter and I many years ago, making funny faces.
I thought it would be fun to summarize the “rules of life” and the “fundamentals” that one needs to enjoy their life. I don’t like the idea of rules because everyone also seems to be saying, “These are the rules.” I only want to explain some basic concepts that will help you find happiness at any point in time.
The Goal
A big question about “rules” is, rules of what? In this case, I am talking about what you need to know to find happiness. No matter what, at the end of the day, that's what we all want. Even if we want success or love or whatever we want to feel good.
All Feelings Come From Beliefs
To that end, this is a sort of basic mechanics of this reality. Every single feeling comes down to a belief.
What is a Belief?
This always seems obvious to me, but I know it’s not to others. A belief is two things: you know something, and you have an opinion about it. What determines your feelings is the opinion you have about something. All you have to do is pay attention to the things you label as good or bad, and you can see what your belief is.
You Created it All
You created this reality, all of it. Some people don’t want to believe this. They wonder, “There’s no way I would create this!” The problem is that you then admit that there is nothing you can do. Some people say, “Well, I create some, and perhaps God creates the rest.” The problem is that if you can control some of it, then you can control all of it, because if you can control some, you can control God’s experience and therefore God. Some people say “God likes this and doesn’t like that,” but if you can control how God feels, then you can control God. A more accurate definition is that God loves you unconditionally and allows you to create your own reality in its entirety.
Even if you cannot accept this, you can hopefully understand that your experience is the way you feel, and that is 100% under your control.
Does God Exist?
Well, if you define God as “all that is,” then obvious that “all that is” exists. Things exist. This is not to depersonalize it. God also has a consciousness for the simple reason that you have a consciousness, and you exist within all that is. So there is at least one consciousness: you.
Negative Feelings
Negative feelings, when you understand all of this, are not a biological manifestation. In fact, there are no “pain” nerves. A touch from a person we love is pleasure, and from someone we don’t is pain. It’s a decision. Whenever you feel bad, you have an opinion that is contrary to the opinion of your higher consciousness.
Recast
A simple way to find happiness is, whenever you feel bad, to ask yourself, what must I believe to be feeling this way? Identify what your beliefs are. Make a list of all your negative beliefs. All beliefs ultimately come down to beliefs that you have about yourself. So, for each, ask yourself what that belief says about what I must believe about myself and life itself? Then simply write down the opposites. The details are here:
Imagination
Use your imagination to imagine who you want to be and the life that you want to live. Use your imagination to ask yourself, what would a person who believed what you prefer to believe do in your life, in your situation? Imagination is a genuine, underrated superpower that will help you to figure out the solution to ANY situation.
You Contain it All
You contain all beliefs and their opposites. Sometimes people want to get rid of beliefs you can’t. What determines your beliefs is the actions you take.
Actions Express Beliefs
Your actions express what you truly believe and therefore the way that you feel. Thinking itself doesn’t create reality; the way that you act does.
Decision
It is always right here and right now, and what determines your experience is the decisions that you are making. When you remember that all feelings come from beliefs, your experience comes down to the decisions you make about what is going on in your life. This is what makes a belief. You are deciding that things are good or bad. You get to decide, and you make a new decision and change your life immediately.
Decide Who You Are
One way to give clarity and stability to your life is to consciously decide who you want to be. Make a simple definition of who you want to be. Then, at any moment, you can simply remember your decision and act like that person. Do you want to be happy? Successful? Loved? Make these part of your definition and act like the person who believes these things.
The Excitement Path
Another simple way to cut through life is to use the excitement path. All of these things that I mention are really different ways to approach life, but all are based upon the same core idea that all feelings come from beliefs. The excitement path is this. In any given moment, you only have so many choices. Pick the choice that excites you the most, even if it is just a little, then do it. Act on it. Invest in it. Take it as far as you can. Then repeat the process. For fun, you can make notes of your choices, and after the action is complete, make a note of the results.
Life is Designed To Be Linear and Unexpected
One of the goals of this type of life experience as a human being is to be surprised. You are born, you learn, and you grow. This is an advantage, because if you knew it all, life would be boring and unexpected. There has been a lot of talk about aliens lately in the news, and one of the things the aliens love about us and admire is our courage to live life the way that we do. They know more. They understand more. Things are more obvious. We are masters at living as humans. They admire us and learn from us. I also liken this to watching professional football players. I wonder why they would choose to get banged up and try so hard, and I admire their strength and athleticism. They are the premier. Aliens see us the same way, and that’s part of the life experience.
