Some things about life are obvious. They require no belief and no faith. For instance, it is true that

1. You were NOT born with opinions, viewpoints or judgements.

2. You were not born with prejudices or biases.

3. You did not come with religion, philosophy, economics or politics.

4. You DID, you DID COME with IQ, personality, propensities and talents.

OTHER THINGS are obvious too:

1. You were born on a bloody death world where life feeds off the living, and from death springs new life (the world/earth is what it is).

2. Life is what you think it is, though in truth - life is what it IS - when you do not have opinions, viewpoints and judgements.

3. Life is a mystery and adventure, a stab in the dark of each new day, a journey into the unknown.

4. Life is a challenge and a contest, and you can either challenge it back (and have a life) or submit and become immediate fertilizer.

5. You experience things and learn things BECAUSE humans have needs that must be met in order to live, and other needs, wants and desires that make life worth living.

6. Life is more fun and easier if YOU ARE, if YOU ARE like the kind of people you like to be around: Honest, trustworthy (their word is law and their bond) they do not deceive, they are positive, upbeat, have a can do attitude, are not negative, are not complainers, are not prideful, vain, egotistical, selfish and greedy. They live the Golden Rule: They treat others the way they want to be treated. And they have a child-like ZEST for life (I try to be the kind of person I like to spend time with).

7. Life is not very long, though it can seem to take forever.

8. About every 90 years everybody who is present on year 1, is dead and gone. So basically, 7 plus billion people who are here today and gone tomorrow–a mere 90 years or so.

THE MOST OBVIOUS TRUTH is that YOUR THOUGHTS about yourself and life determine to a GREAT degree what your life will be like. WHEN YOU CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS, life changes; your life changes.

I few life as a great and grand adventure from which I harvest its fruits. I view no experience as negative, regardless of what it is. I find value in my every experience. I think life is wonderful. Sometimes I even think that it’s an amazing thing that we even exist.

AND, OBVIOUSLY, life is not easy, not always comfortable, and sometimes it’s a real pain in the donkey, BUT, that’s life, and how you deal with it through your thoughts determines whether you live it in joy or sorrow. IT’S ALL UP TO YOU. It’s always been up to you because you THINK life, and what you think about life is has always been YOUR CHOICE.

And, “Yes,” some life experiences ARE VERY PAINFUL, and you can rail against them, kick against the pricks, try to change things to be less painful and work to create more peace, joy and happiness, but at the end of the day, and at the end of your life, it was what it was, and THAT’S LIFE. nem.