Life Priorities February 11, 2007
Posted by asoulsearching in Goals, Observation, Priorities.add a comment
One thing that I struggle with is what I actually want. It sounds strange but it’s something I constantly struggle with and prevents me from focusing on a clear objective. I was pondering what I fundamentally want and came up with the following list:
- Professional success
- Family success
- Life enjoyment
I define professional success as being competent in my chosen profession and having such a reputation. For better or worse, I define myself a lot on my job. I take it very personally when I fail to accomplish my best at work. Being successful at my profession and being recognized for it are very important to me.
Family success include more than just blood relations. I include friends and community in this category too because they all blend together for me anyway. First and foremost I want to be a good husband and father. I want to provide for my family physically and emotionally. As a friend and community member I want to be trustworthy, reliable, helpful, and hospitable. I want to enjoy the company of those I am around and I want them to enjoy my company also.
That brings us to the third desire, Life Enjoyment. Life has a lot of great and beautiful things to experience. I want to experience them and not feel bad about it. That means that if I acquire enough wealth I should be able to buy and do the things I want without feeling guilty for doing so. If I want a really nice bottle of scotch or a fine cigar and can afford it, I should do it without feeling guilt. Along the same lines, if I want to purchase an extravagant gift for someone I love and can afford it, I should do that too.
Maybe those seem like obvious things, but it gives me a foundation from which to move forward.
Similarities Between Asatru and Objectivism February 1, 2007
Posted by asoulsearching in Asatru, Heathenry, Observation, Philosophy, Uncategorized.1 comment so far
I’ve been doing a little research on Asatru and I find it very appealing. It seems to have a very practical take on life and how to live it. I am notably impressed by the belief that each person is responsible for his or her actions and must pay for those actions in some sense. I see an interesting parallel here with Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, at least in regards to the ethics of self interest. I also think that Objectivism has a lot in common with the Nine Noble Virtues:
- Courage
- Truth
- Honor
- Fidelity
- Discipline
- Hospitality
- Industriousness
- Self-Reliance
- Perseverance
Rand summarized her philosophy in the following manner:
If you want this translated into simple language, it would read: 1. “Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” or “Wishing won’t make it so.” 2. “You can’t eat your cake and have it, too.” 3. “Man is an end in himself.” 4. “Give me liberty or give me death.”
I see a lot of overlap. If you read Atlas Shrugged, the ultimate Objectivist parable, I think that you will see the overlap too. The only thing missing between the two philosophies is the belief in gods. That omission is the only thing that really kept me from fully embracing Objectivism. Since I perceive Asatru to have similar ideals and it believes in the spiritual side of life it also has a lot of attraction for me. The only catch is shifting archetypal gears to embrace polytheism. I’ll work through that one in a later post.
