Secular Sage

I am a deep over thinker. It’s a systemic problem for me, often leading to a subconscious anxiety that I can’t explain or dispel. I have come to learn a few things though about its root cause and, more importantly, its cryptonite, truthful speech. There are a few key principles which I believe we should live by in order to quiet anxious thoughts or at very least disarm them. 

1. Trust your instincts.

If we do not, there is no speech and no authentic action. If we are always on the fence, always unsure, then we cannot lead our own lives authentically, never mind the lives of others. I am not talking about authoritarianism or arrogance. The former hears no opinions, the latter refuses to learn. These instincts will evolve as we experience and learn, they will become more and more refined. But aim doesn’t improve without action. It’s easier to direct something in motion, it’s easier to adjust your aim once you have fired a shot. Have a bias for speech and action, aim at the highest possible good you can imagine and be humble enough to learn.

2. Speak your mind.

It’s the start of everything, it’s how you add value, it’s how you improve your situation and those of others. It’s how you put yourself on the stage in your workplace, community, family and social circles. It’s how you influence, first and foremost, for the better or worse. It’s the first step towards authenticity, no matter where you are on your journey discovered in hindsight. You often do not know you are misguided until you pull the trigger, when it comes out, when you hear yourself or see the words on the page, or the fruit of your “wisdom”.

3. Be honest

So much of our anxiety comes directly from lies. When we have to dig deep we have usually not been honest. We cannot defend our speech, or actions, or direction of travel, it’s like, if we are living someone else’s life, peddling someone else’s truth or even a lie. We feel we can’t appeal to the structure of the universe, or God, to bail us out. And this is most disconcerting. I genuinely believe that the result of the truth, no matter how hard at the time is always the better outcome for me and everyone else involved. And more than that, the opposite is always self destructive. You start as the person able to lie but you become the person unable not to lie because you can no longer tell the truth from lies. It’s a slippery slope. Be honest, do the right thing, live truthfully, transparently, honestly and let the chips fall where they may. The result may be difficult but you have no reason to be anxious. There is nothing to rethink, no regrets, only forwards. That’s simple, liberating. 

4. Live free

Once you have acted on life’s stage authentically, honestly, no conceit, no pretense, no attempts to stack the chips in your favour. Nothing to be found out. No skeletons in the closet. There is no rational reason to be anxious. Trust the outcome, whatever it means, bearing in mind that even (especially) suffering is a gift. Trust the structure or reality. Trust in God.