Personal growth has always been of great interest to me, as it is to most people. Indeed, I view the entire experience of being a Jehovah's Witness -- and then leaving -- as a process of personal growth. Since, in the final analysis, we can only control our conscious lives and our behaviors, personal growth seems, in my opinion, to be THE THING. (That is not to be confused with egoism or "rugged individualism"...personal growth inevitibly leads AWAY from such things).
My life, over the last few years has been process of such growth, and my philosophy of life has ever evolved along this path. I rightly consider being a Witness as a part of this, even a positive and necessary part. What I believe and feel, as well as how I act, has gone through many mutations; even some pain has been involved. For what it is worth, I'd like to share how I've come to view life -- my philosophy at this juncture. This is not to say that I'm actively APPLYING everything that is to follow, just that this is where life and my thinking have come to and, hopefully, where I want to go from here. Call these principles if you will.
1) Our mental state is our only reality. I was driving down the street in my car as I was viewing the road in front of me. Forest trees were on both sides with their tops almost touching each other above the road. I thought to myself: "I'm not really SEEING the road and the trees. I'm only seeing REPRESENTATIONS of them in my mind." Of course, the representations do have some correspondence with the world "out there" -- the objective noumenal world Kant talked about. Nevertheless, the reality that WE create the world around us is awe-inspiring to the extreme. We are God, in this sense.
Just as our physical senses are products -- illusions -- in our minds, so too are our ideas, beliefs, feelings, mental perceptions. We all have independent realities. This is critical to understanding others...and ourselves.
2) The greatest ethic we can live is to treat others with deep, overriding COMPASSION. It is almost a matter of faith, but I believe that humans, at least the vast majority, are fundamentally good at heart. Even if this is not really true -- even if we are morally neutral in our nature -- the good that comes from treating others with unconditional acceptance and compassion far outweighs "being right" and the spiritual blankness that proceeds from that view. This is not to say that people do not need discipline or to be resisted. I'm not even a pacifist. But, for most of us, most of the time, in dealing with most people, if we let compassion and understanding rule there will be benefits -- even if it is only WE that are benefitted. (This is silly, I know, but I've developed the practice of silently "blessing" people that annoy me at first. If someone cuts me off in traffic I'm angry for a second, then lift my hand and say "I bless you." Indeed, I bless them for teaching me patience!)
3) Life can be looked at positively or negatively; spiritually or not. No one knows if either position is "true", but the benefits to both self and others by acting as if it were true, that is, by looking at life positively and spiritually, is enormous. I've become a pragmatist of sorts. Thank you William James.
There's more, but this is what comes to mind for now. What have you learned? Where are you on your journey? Share!
Bradley