Hard-Earned Happiness

Faith. I ended a recent post with the following thought: "Faith canot be a shortcut, simply there to justify part-time spirituality." I found this week that this applies not only to spirituality, but also to empirical exoteric goodness. There are no shortcuts, spiritually or empirically. Good intentions are not the same as sincere goodness. One must consistently work hard at aligning actions and behaviors with thoughts, feelings, and that ineffable/intuitive spirituality I have referenced frequently in recent posts. To clarify, the underlying spirituality portion must always be present in some form and inner work must be diligent and disciplined (study, analysis, contemplation, and reflection) to tie this transcendent concept to empirical considerations; but this is not enough. One must also work hard physically - I am talking about (sweat of the brow) physical labor as well as the considered, thoughtful actions and behaviors that set an example by sharing goodness.

Life is hard work; or, it should be. Much of that depends on the individual to consciously decide to work hard. When faced with a decision it is too often human nature to give greater weight to 'easy' and not consider (by ignoring, or being oblivious to) the learning opportunities available when one opts for 'difficult'.

In one recent post I maintained that "we are all individually irrelevant ... unimportant ... inconsequential." If this is true (and I believe it is) then some times (all the time?) all one has of relevance (empirically or spiritually) is one's hard work. And often, one's only judge of consequential character is oneself; (keeping in mind that anonymity validates exoteric goodness and spirituality emanates from inner transcendence).

We, as a culture of workers, have evolved from hunter-gatherers to agriculture and food production to manufacturing to service, and now seem to be transitioning into knowledge workers. I believe this progression encourages learning, growth, and spirituality but in turn dampens enthusiasm for physical labor. Often exercise and eating right become a piece of one's overall concept of spirituality which is good, as long as physical well-being does not supplant the overall fusion of empirical and spiritual considerations. Physical labor or exercise is a wonderful medium for contemplation and reflection and should be taken advantage of in that regard.

Today one does not have to spend all day, every day tracking, hunting, and killing a wild boar to ensure dinner tonight. Because one spends less time with these empirical considerations necessary for survival, I believe instead of the wild boar, one is too often found chasing a wild goose. Simply put (as previously stated) "one's only judge of consequential character is oneself." It is up to each individual, and not some self-help guru, to determine the validity of one's individual actions, thoughts, feelings, beliefs, behaviors, and spirituality.

Fad diets, fad exercise programs, fad business schemes, fad psychology, fad beliefs, fad movements, fad spirituality ... Not 'everything' is a fad, but various aspects of many things are, in that they are temporary. Even the nature of centuries-old religions change with the times. I believe that in all things there may be a core concept that is meaningful and potentially applicable to a given set of circumstances; (perhaps even widespread sets of circumstances); but I have found that ultimately the individual is still the best judge of what may be useful from any given philosophy. And one's individual judgment is ultimately the only one with meaning; provided one does no harm within the parameters discussed in 'this previous post' where I said "I strongly believe one should do no physical harm" ... but "uninhibited truthfulness should not be discouraged based on the 'potential for harm' because in so doing the 'potential for growth' is also discouraged and likely eliminated ..."

When one presses the 'easy' button, Life becomes filled with fluff.

Difficult decisions are difficult for a reason. Hard work is hard for a reason. And both are necessary.

I prefer substance over fluff.

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