Blogaday day 8: Life Theory part I

Day 8. Score it.

It's 1:31, terribly late. Why am I writing? Because I like it.

So, this one won't be too terribly long for you guys, but I think it's going to be quality. I'm going to start a new segment on this here blog, and it's going to be called life theory. The plan is to document and talk about the philosophies that are really big and important in my life. The ones that affect the way I make decisions. Hopefully they'll be deep, it'll be interesting to write about them for me at least. I'll add more as life goes on, it'll come every once in a while. Because of the way I am, they'll have alot of religious ideas behind them. You're just gonna have to live with it.

First off, I make no apologies for this stuff. The reason that the philosoblog is no longer in use is because I hated how arrogant I sounded on it. Like I was so certain of everything. Well, I know now that I don't know everything, I'm trying to be a little more "this is what I think..." instead of "this is how it is." However, this stuff is reverting back to the way things are, not how I think they are. So, keep that in mind, I'm not trying to be a dictator, it's just easier to write that way.

You guys are free to disagree with any and everything I write. Just know that this stuff goes deep in me. It's not just something that I sorta think, it's what governs alot of choices that I make. So, without further ado, I give you Life Theory number one: The right choice.

I think life is all about choices. That's the one thing we've always got, choices. In the end, choices are the one thing nobody can take away. When you're 60, you might have a great car, or you might have a crappy car cause your boss laid you off. You might have a great set of teeth, or you might have been poisoned by a spy. In the end though, it's not your teeth that are going to matter, or you car. It's your choices. Why? Because choices are fair.

To make things easier, I'm going to classify two types of choices in our lives. One is going to be direction choices; choices that change the direction of our lives. The choice for me to run cross country definitely changed the direction of my life. The choice to join the swim team, had I taken it, would have changed my life as well. Both of those choices are great choices to make. I'd suggest them to anyone.

The second type of choice is a maintenance choice. These are choices that you face everyday, and are based on the directional choices that you have made in life earlier. Examples would be "go to practice, or not go to practice." or, "eat the peanut butter and jelly, or eat the ham." They're easier choices, littler choices, and generally overlooked.

The main difference between the two is that with a maintenance choice, I believe that there is always a best choice, whereas with a directional there might not be. Cross country vs. swim will make a huge difference in my life, but they're both going to be good for me. Go to practice vs. not go to practice, well, go to practice will make my life better.

Now that that's taken care of, on to some real business.

I believe that there is always a best choice to be made in maintenance choices. Even if it is a trivial thing like what to eat, you can always make a good choice, a medium choice, and a bad choice. Sometimes medium isn't in there, but the point still stands. You can always choose the healthier food, the better idea, the safer route.

I also believe that every time we make that 'best' decision, our life is better for it. Every time that I choose to go to practice instead of not going to practice, things get a little bit better for me.

On the flipside, I believe that when we make the 'less good' choice, we don't necessarily have terrible consequences, but we lose whatever good things would have come from making the 'best' choice. It's not a "you're gonna die if you don't go to practice." It's more of a "You're not going to have that extra kick if you don't go to practice."

So, what does this really boil down to?

According to what I believe, in order to have the best life, one should always strive to make the best choices. The great thing is, I believe that we all know what's right and what's wrong, I think we know it deep down. Therefore, if we could always think and know what is right and what is wrong, and always choose the choice that is 'righter' or better, we would be better off.

This also means that I disagree with anyone who says that life is going to be better if they cheat just this once, or if they go do this stupid thing so they'll have the experience to tell their kids. The way I see it, life is always better and easier if we make the right choices. Making the wrong choice will never lead to a better end than making the right choice would.

That's not to say that you're screwed if you make a wrong choice, or that good things can't come from it. When we make the "less good" choice, we generally learn from it. Truth be told, we're not always going to make the "right" choice, and it's our job to learn from the times that we don't. If we were to refuse to grow from making the wrong choices, we would cease to progress in our lives.

Yea verily, that's it to the basics. Is my life going to be better by cheating? No. Is my life going to be better by sluffing practice? No. Will life be better if I just do a crappy job cause I'm going to get an 'A' anyways? No.

You know that feeling you get, when there's the easy way, and it looks so great, but you know that something inside you tells you that it's for suckers? Well, c'mon folks. What's going to be the better choice here? The one that looks easy and produces the 'same' result according to you, or the one that deep down feels a little better? I go with deep down.

So that's number one. There's a good answer for every maintenance choice. Directional choices are different, they're much more confusing. I think there can be two equally great directional choices presented for you. I also believe that there are times when there's an obvious good direction and an obvious bad direction. Jazz band vs. Junior choir? tough call, both are great. Go to Youth Conference or go to soccer tournament, well, I say youth conference. But of course, that's just me.

I tell you what, it's alot easier to take this and explain it as a blatant religious deal. I haven't done that hear, if you want the religious version, ask me about it, we'll have a discussion. That's something I want to start doing again, scripture study with friends. We did that a couple times last year, and we had some good discussions. It's nice to be able to talk about it, because alot of times in social settings we all feel that religion is taboo. No Nick, this one's not for your benefit, it's for mine. Truth is, religion is a huge part of my life, and it's hard to talk about me as a person without getting in to the religious side of things. So, moral of the story is, don't be afraid to talk about religion. Don't be afraid to ask about religion, I love to talk about it.

-The end-

Yea verily, make good choices.

So, the end of blogaday version two. A pretty good success I think, no complaints. Not as much variation as I would have liked, I wanted to get a little more creative. But I still think it was good. It's made me want to write alot more frequently. I hope you guys have enjoyed it, thanks to everyone that left comments. Those of you that didn't... well, I like you guys too I guess.

Just not as much.

Haha, it's 2:15 AM. I've got to be awake in about 3.5 hours. Lucky for me, I had a huge nap. Therefore, I bid you adieu for now. Expect new posts tuesday and thursday. As for me, I'm out of here. G'night everybody, good luck with this next week. I wish you all the best. Cya.