philosophical health
Just as a doctor reviews your physical health, your philosophical life can go through the review and prescription process. The following guide is set up to help you assess your philosophical health, provide you with elixirs to reverse any philosophical illnesses you may have contracted or injured, and suggest mentally invigorating exercises to bring your mind to peak performance.
While following the following prescriptions for your philosophical health, don’t forget to take care of your physical health. Your brain is the muscle you use for philosophy, and your brain is powered by your body. Feed your body well and keep it in good shape so that your brain can do its job well. A good way to think about keeping your whole being healthy is to think about taking care of your body Mind, and spirit (or body, intellect and emotions, if you prefer). Philosophy works mainly on your mind and spirit. But don’t forget your body too.
One last request before we begin, take your time with this guide. Remember, The Wise Turtle became so wise because he takes his time. Why rush and waste your life? The best way to get where you really want to go is to take one step at a time. (It helps to have four feet like a turtle, but two feet is enough!) So start with the first step and follow your path with mindfulness and purpose.
Part 1:
Basic First Aid and Annual Checkup
1. Evaluation of the physical/intellectual/emotional state. What needs immediate attention? Administer calming aid before doing anything else! Thinking suffers when you suffer. So take care of your basic health needs first and foremost.
2. Evaluate what is going well. Make a list of all the good things that have happened in your life recently. Big things, little things, anything you truly appreciate.
3. Ask yourself what you would like to see in your life in the future. Consider what your goals, dreams, ideals, and overall purpose are. Write them down too. They can be simple or very detailed.
4. As a mind game, take the conclusions from #3 and use them to create a slogan for your life. Imagine that you have been invited to a philosophical themed party and you have to show the essential purpose of your life on your t-shirt. Try to make your slogan answer the question: “Who am I and what do I want to do with myself in life?” Keep your philosophical catchphrase to no more than a sentence or two, if you can. Don’t worry, you never have to show this to anyone if you don’t want to! But write it down somewhere where you can easily find it. This slogan is meant to be your touchstone or mantra: your philosophy of life. Whenever you’re feeling terrible about your life, the world, or whatever, take a look at your mantra to remind yourself what it’s all about. (If it doesn’t make you feel better, you may need to tweak it a bit.) If you want, make an actual T-shirt with your philosophical slogan on it and wear it when you’re feeling particularly thoughtful.
The Wise Turtle has its mantra right in the middle of its home page in your web browser, so you’ll see it every time you go online. Some people like to make art that represents their philosophy of life, either literally or metaphorically. If you’re feeling really silly, you could create an actual “first aid kit” for your mind, with nothing but your mantra printed inside in big red letters. You could keep it on your bathroom shelf next to Band-Aids and aspirin!
If that sounds cheesy or difficult for you, just write your tagline on a plain piece of paper and remember where you put it in case you want to look at it at some point, okay?
Part 2:
Preventive maintenance: exercise your brain
1. Take at least a few minutes each day to stop and observe what is happening in your life at that moment. Not only smell roses, use as many senses as you can to observe the moment wherever you are: how do things look, sound, feel, taste and smell? Don’t judge these things, just watch them as if you were a recorder or a camera. This exercise sharpens your senses and exercises them. It’s sort of a basic training ground for your brain’s data entry systems! You can focus on just one thing in detail, or take the whole scene in general. You can stand still, walk slowly, or even dance while doing this! (Just don’t do it while you’re driving, okay?) You can focus on your mind, body, or surroundings, or move your focus slowly from one to the other. Whatever you fancy. Do this exercise regularly with a variety of approaches and settings for best results.
2. When you come across a thought that bothers you, ask yourself, “Can I be absolutely sure that I have all the facts?” Take a few minutes or so to see if you’re missing anything. Maybe you are, and maybe you’re not. Can’t hurt to take a second look, right?
3. Argue with yourself! Remember, you are guaranteed to win! Take some thought that you hold very strongly and discuss the other side for a while. See if you can find at least a few things that are true that contradict your original thought. Play your own Devil’s Advocate and see what happens. The goal of this exercise is to stretch the mind and understand the complexity of beliefs. See from what other perspectives you can see the world. As you argue, you may find that there are others, other sides too, that you may never have imagined. Arguing with yourself is also a great test of your tolerance levels. Remember that if you win an argument with yourself, you also lose! Therefore, if you can be respectful while engaging with yourself, then you are more likely to be respectful of others when they disagree with your ideas. And you may even decide that arguing isn’t nearly as fun or informative as having a lively open discussion with someone with a very different perspective from yours.
4. Write a thank you note today. No reason. No one or nothing. Do it again tomorrow. Make it serious or silly. You don’t have to give it up if you don’t want to. The important thing is to think about it and write it down or say it out loud.
Part 3:
Holidays, explorations and philosophical sporting events
The following are some interesting suggestions to really stretch your brain. Pick one or all and see where you end up…
Feed your brain with a healthy, complete, nutritious and delicious media athletes diet. A junk food media diet will make your brain limp and out of shape, and you will never be able to overcome those mental hurdles. Look for books, magazines, movies, plays, music, and intelligent, creative, compassionate, positive, and challenging conversations. A little empty calorie snack now and then is fine, but spending your life feasting on a varied diet of solid foods will keep you in top philosophical shape.
Write a Philosophical Myth that tells the story of the philosophy of your life. Illustrate it with whatever you have creative skills: stick figures, Rembrant-like oil paintings, magazine clippings, rubber stamps, macaroni collages… Make copies to give to family members or send to a book publisher and get famous. !
Give yourself everything you think someone else needs to give you. Acknowledge yourself when you’re right, forgive yourself when you’re wrong, and thank yourself when you do the world a favor!
Whenever you come across a should, look for their intimate partner who shouldn’t.
Look for patterns in the apparent chaos, or at least find ways to appreciate chaos as some kind of beautiful art created by the Universe.
Travel a completely different route the next time you go somewhere. Go the long way or through the (fill in the blank) part of town. See what you’ve been missing.
Talk to someone you’ve never talked to before. Ask them about their life. Find out their personal philosophy or just ask them who they are. Don’t judge them, just know them.
Read a book or article by someone who has views very different from yours, and then look for at least some truth in what they say.
Imagine that you are someone or something else: a tree, an insect, a cloud, a wave, a pig, a planet, the universe. Imagine what you would see, hear, touch, taste, smell, and generally experience if your consciousness were somehow transported to some other being or existence.
Find something completely selfless to do. See if you can find something, anything, that makes someone else happy that doesn’t make you too. Go and try it!
Play! He plays like you did as a child. Play with children. Play with your ideas! Laugh at life!
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