Next up in the list of important questions to answer to determine our own philosophy:

What is happiness?

This one is easy. I just looked up the definition and found this:

State of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

Actually, I think this question is best answered by thinking about a follow up question. Why is that the same things can happen to two different people and one is happy and the other is not?

Which one are you?

We all have the choice as we walk along life’s path every day. We can choose happiness or we can choose not to be happy.

If you aren’t happy, ask yourself why.

Do you not believe that happiness is out there for you?

Do you believe life to be one of struggle and pain?

Do you let future worries weigh you down today?

Do you let the past drag you down today?

I like how the definition of happiness starts at contentment.

We can start to add happiness to our lives simply by content with what we have. Then we pursue greater levels of happiness.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Next up in the list of 12 questions from philosophy:

What is good and what is bad?

How we define good, bad, right and wrong definitely has an influence on how our lives will turn out.

I won’t attempt to help you draw the line between right and wrong, that is for each of us to do by ourselves.

Instead, I wanted to share Jake’s 51% rule.

At any given time the world is at least 51% good.

Regardless of how you define good and bad, good always wins because the world is always (at a minimum) a little bit more good than bad.

My favorite part of this rule is that good has already won. That takes all the pressure off. All we have to do now is to run up the score. Try and get up as close to 100% as possible.

What can you do today to add another percent to the good column?

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment. – Jim Rohn

EB – The most important quality I look for in a teammate is accountability. You have to be accountable for who you are. It’s easy to blame things on someone else. – Lenny Wilkens

JM – Alcohol and calculus don’t mix. Never drink and derive.

JW – Our nature consists of motion, complete rest is death. – Blaire Pascal

Accountability…..maybe a bad word in some circles.

When someone else holds us accountable, most of us (or is it just me) tend to get a bit defensive.

As I get older, I am realizing more and more a profound truth: the world does not revolve around me. (I know, you should probably have to pay to receive this kind of genius)

Since the world doesn’t revolve around me, it becomes important that I understand and appreciate what other people have to offer.

And part of what others offer is a different view on myself. Being accountable to someone else isn’t about submitting your will to theirs or about them being “better” than you.

It is about taking a more objective look at yourself in order to become the best you possible.

If you want to do your best, embrace accountability.

Think of the most important goal in your life right now. Find someone to hold you accountable to make forward progress.

Make it a great weekend.

Jake

http://youtu.be/aRLOCNKKZDY

Don’t worry about a thing, cause every little thing is gonna be alright.

What a great way to look at all the little worries in our lives.

When it comes to worry, we have a choice.

We can let it in and let it drive our actions and thoughts or we can choose to just not worry.

Most of the worries in our lives aren’t worth the mental energy we expend on them.

Next time a worry pops up, just let the lyrics and melody of this song remind you that everything is going to be alright.

Make it a great day.

Jake

Next up in the list of the top 12 philosophical questions to ask yourself:

Are we living in the Matrix?

Ok, maybe I took a little creative liberty with that one. This question revolves around what is truth and what is reality and how we can know truth and reality.

This is another one of those brain busters where I am not qualified to give the correct answer.

My answer to this question is to focus on those things that I know produce a positive result.

To love and treat others as I would like to be treated.

To live a life of service to others.

To seek knowledge and wisdom.

Even if we are living in the Matrix and it is all a big sham, if we have done these things we will have had a better experience along the way.

And as you look to answer this and the other questions posed in this series, you must answer them for yourself.

We may not get to face the choice of the red pill and the blue pill, but we can choose what we focus on.

Make it a great day.

Jake

The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. – Oprah Winfrey

Today is our daughter Annie’s 4th birthday so I thought I deviate from answering the top 12 questions of philosophy.

Birthdays and anniversaries are great reminders of those wonderful blessings and miracles in our lives. They remind me of the little green mile markers along the interstate, marking our progress along the way.

They remind us of where we came from and where we are going.

They are also days of celebration.

The quote above reminded me that celebrating life is something we can do every day.

If you really think about it, every day probably is an anniversary or commemorative date of some wonderful thing that has happened in your life.

We just need to decide to celebrate them.

What are you celebrating today?

Make it a great day (that way you will have something to celebrate next year).

Jake

Next up in the list of 12 most important philosophical questions to ask yourself:

What is thought? Is it real?

Again, I am not going to try to answer this one “correctly”, merely from the perspective of what I think might yield the most positive attitude.

Thoughts are the beginning of all that is real.

A lot of what we see and experience began as a thought or an idea in someone’s mind.

And our thoughts shape our lives.

Earl Nightingale said it best in “The Strangest Secret”. We become what we think about most of the time.

If what we become determines our happiness, then we must take control of our thoughts use them to shape our future.

If we want different results, we must have different thoughts.

And in these thoughts we will find a future filled with all the possibilities inherent in the world of thought.

Virtually anything becomes possible.

Just think of what is possible for you….

Make it a great day.

Jake

Next up in the list of 12 most important questions asked in philosophy:

What determines the life and fate of each individual? Do we really have free will or is life set up before we even start?

This one is tough for me to answer from even an attempt at impartiality. I am such a believer in our ability to exert our free will that imagining life without it is very difficult for me.

We control our thoughts and our attitude and nothing else.

We don’t need to ask for a different set of circumstances in our life. If we would like a different result, we must change our attitude and our thoughts.

“But you have no idea of the disappointments in my life.”

Disappointments are not something special reserved for the poor and downtrodden. Those who have rolled the dice of fate and came up empty.

Disappointments happen to us all. Our happiness is determined in our response, not in what happens to us.

Take today to think about your own life. What could you focus on instead of the negative happenings?

Make it a great day.

Jake

JD – If one advances confidently in the direction of one’s dreams, and endeavors to live the life which one has imagined, one will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. – Henry David Thoreau

JW – Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started. – Steve Prefontaine

JM – Passwords are like underwear. You shouldn’t leave them out where people can see them, you should change them regularly, and you shouldn’t share them with strangers.

EB – To the extreme, I rock a mic like a vandal. – EB

I was listening to audio book yesterday that included the quote above from Thoreau. It is one of my favorite quotes, and I thought of a new element to it yesterday as I was driving home on the first nice spring afternoon.

Spring is the season of life for planting and starting the process of growth.

Our dreams are the beginnings of growth and possibility in our lives.

As you see the flowers start to bloom, the grass start to turn green and hear the birds chirp this spring think of you dreams. Think of those thoughts and ideas beginning to take root and begin to grow.

Picture the beginnings of your dreams in your mind.

That first 5 pounds lost.

That first week of exercise behind you.

That first $1000 in the savings account.

Plant that picture in your mind. Let it grow and come to fruition.

Make it a great spring.

Jake

http://youtu.be/m5TwT69i1lU

Maybe not a toe tapper, but it should get you started off with a smile.

Yesterday was a great reminder for me of just how true those words are…..what a wonderful world.

We have a wonderful new baby boy at home and spring has sprung. Sun shining, green growth outside sprung.

What a wonderful world.

Jake