Humanist Thought of the Week

Critical Thinking

The person I am most critical of is myself.

I hold myself to high standards.  

This is the main reason I try to think critically.

The better I can problem solve.

The better my moral judgements are.

The more reality based my understanding is, the more effective and moral I can be.

When I make mistakes, I try to fix them. And to do so I must be able to recognize the mistake to correct it.

All of this requires me to think critically about who I am, what I am trying to accomplish and how I am going about doing the things I do.

Being so critical all the time may seem ... negative.

But knowing that I truly am doing the best that I can do and that I’m not taking short cuts, makes me feel good about myself, even when I fail. 

Humanistic Self

Being a Humanist requires a certain amount of self-awareness.

If you aren’t willing to critically judge your own behavior, you have no way of improving.

Be aware that you aren’t perfect.

Reflect on how you might do and be better. 

Take constructive action to actually be better.

I find that having a sense of self-worth is made easier when I know that I matter because I regularly take action that matters to others. 

But the number 1 skill? Self-directed learning.

Without a willingness to learn how to be better, you won’t improve. 

Schools Out for Summer

I’m actually really excited that summer has finally started and that I can now hang out with my son.

Granted, he decided to go to opera camp this summer, so some of our free time is no longer free.

But still, I look forward to summer as much as he does.

We all need breaks. We all need time off from time to time.

We all need to spend quality time with the people we love.

And to me, that’s what summer is. Time to spend with my son. 

We haven’t been on a proper vacation for several years due to our financial constraints. 

But we still like to go exploring and seeing things we wouldn’t otherwise have the time to see, like obscure county parks and things like that.

Brains need breaks.  We need time off to recharge our brains.

So embrace summer. Embrace the break. And enjoy it while and if you can!

Removing Fear

I sometimes think that life is one big exercise in learning to overcome fear.

Fear of other people. Fear of falling off a cliff while hiking. Fear of ghosts.

Some fears are rational and some fears aren’t.

Fear is natural. You are going to experience it.

And in those cases where fear is rational, it may just save your life or keep you from doing something really stupid. 

Fear is in our emotional toolkit for a reason. 

I don’t think our task is to remove our fear, but to decide what to do about our fear.

When people talk about needing to remove their fear, what they are actually talking about is finding courage. 

Courage to do what you know you should despite your fear.

So stop focusing on how afraid you are and start considering all the reasons why you should act in spite your fear.

And if you are still paralyzed by fear, find someone to help you.  

I know a guy who had agoraphobia and hadn’t left his house in several years and within 6 months of seeing a therapist had his life back.   He just had to have the courage to ask for help! 

Memorials

How good are Humanist memorials?  

Really good. 

In fact, the Humanist practice of celebrating the life lost as a way to facilitate the grief process is so popular, it’s gone mainstream.

A religious friend of mine just lost her husband. She scheduled a celebration of life for people to remember him prior to the funeral.

Another friend had his dad die. He did the same thing and held a celebration of life.

Memorials are important. They help us remember and to help us provide a context for our grief.

Celebrating life should be part of any memorial.

Our task as mourners is to continue living, despite our loss.

Celebrating life is part of our commitment to doing just that.

And that helps us all grieve a little easier.