I have found it useful to live by these principles
1. Always keep an open mind. As the writer Robert Anton Wilson famously wrote, “Belief is the death of intelligence. As soon as one believes a doctrine of any sort, or assumes certitude, one stops thinking about that aspect of existence.”
2. Don’t mistake forest for the trees, the image for the reality or the description for the thing described. Arthur Korzybski, the father of general semantics, wrote: “The map is not the territory, the word is not the thing it describes. Whenever the map is confused with the territory, a ‘semantic disturbance’ is set up in the organism. The disturbance continues until the limitation of the map is recognized.” Buddhism and Hinduism implicitly acknowledge this Great Truth in the concept of “Maya”. Most is most often translated as “illusion”, but a better choice would be “apperance”. This appearance is only illusion when we mistakenly mistake it for reality.
maya, (Sanskrit: “magic” or “illusion”) a fundamental concept in Hindu philosophy, notably in the Advaita (Nondualist) school of Vedanta. Maya originally denoted the magic power with which a god can make human beings believe in what turns out to be an illusion. By extension, it later came to mean the powerful force that creates the cosmic illusion that the phenomenal world is real. For the Nondualists, maya is thus that cosmic force that presents the infinite brahman (the supreme being) as the finite phenomenal world. Maya is reflected on the individual level by human ignorance (ajnana) of the real nature of the self, which is mistaken for the empirical ego but which is in reality identical with brahman.
3. Don’t get lost in your head. Don’t panic. Don’t take yourself so seriously. The following quote is from the writing of Chuang Tzu (369?-286? B.C.), a leading philosopher representing the Taoist strain in Chinese thought.
Great knowledge is all-encompassing;
small knowledge is limited. Great words
are inspiring; small words are chatter.
When we are asleep, we are in touch with
our souls. When we are awake, our senses
open. We get involved with our activities
and our minds are distracted. Sometimes
we are hesitant, sometimes underhanded,
and sometimes secretive. Little fears cause
anxiety, and great fears cause panic. Our
words fly off like arrows, as though we
knew what was right and wrong. We cling
to our own point of view, as though
everything depended on it. And yet our
opinions have no permanence;
like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
We are caught in the current and cannot
return. We are tied up in knots like an
old clogged drain; we are getting closer
to death with no way to regain our youth.
Joy and anger, sorrow and happiness, hope
and fear, indecision and strength, humility
and willfulness, enthusiasm and insolence,
like music sounding from an empty reed
or mushrooms rising from the warm dark
earth, continually appear before us day
and night. No one knows whence they
come. Don’t worry about it! Let them be!
How can we understand it all in one day?
4. Hold space for others and for yourself.
“What does it mean to hold space for someone else? It means that we are willing to walk alongside another person in whatever journey they’re on without judging them, making them feel inadequate, trying to fix them, or trying to impact the outcome. When we hold space for other people, we open our hearts, offer unconditional support, and let go of judgement and control.” Heather Plett
5. Don’t be afraid to dream big dreams. Allow yourself to reach for things you cannot see. Attempt the impossible.
“Only those are truly happy who have desired the unattainable.” – Aleister Crowley
6. Timing matters. Be aware of the time and the season.
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace, a time to refrain from embracing
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late
– Pete Seeger