iii.

the principle of choice means i actively decide who i want to be and what i want the world to be.

each choice i make says "this is correct. this is the way everyone should behave. this is the way the world should be."

i have a responsibility to make choices that make me a better person and the world a better world.

in making choices, i must play an active role. i must engage myself in my choices. i must not compromise my choices for the sake of external approval. i must not let circumstances or others make choices for me.

in making my choices, i must remember that i am on Earth not to fulfill anyone else and that no one is on Earth to fulfill me. if i choose to sacrifice myself for others, it must be because i have chosen to do so, not because i have been co-opted into the decision. if others are to sacrifice themselves for me, it must be because they have reached that decision of their own free will.

i have no right to make choices for others. no one has the right to make choices for me.

once i have made my choices, i must evaluate them and, if necessary, change them. my choices will ultimately be evaluated by the outcomes they bring about. i must not be afraid to recognize that i have made the wrong choice and start again.

i have an obligation to make choices. to refrain from making choices is a betrayal of self-awareness. when i betray self-awareness by remaining passive, i am watching myself drown and doing nothing about it.

death means the absence of choice. as a living being, i am entitled and have a duty to avoid death until such time as i consciously make the choice to give up all further choices by dying. to chose death is by far the most critical choice i will ever make, as it will deprive me of any further choice.

the principle of choice means to define myself by what i do and the choices i make and not to allow others or circumstances to do that for me.

ii

understanding is not merely knowing. understanding is experiencing what i know in mind and body. understanding is having what i know and feel become a part of me. ultimately, understanding is being at peace with what i know and feel.

to have understanding, i must first become aware of my thoughts and feelings. i must not avoid thinking what i think and feeling what i feel no matter how uncomfortable or painful those thoughts and feelings may be.

to avoid certain thoughts and feelings is to betray understanding. when i betray understanding, i am betraying myself, and i am at war with my own thoughts and feelings. when i am at war with my thoughts and feelings, only toxic results can follow.

when i don't avoid my thoughts and feelings, i am walking the path of awareness. painful as that path may be, it leads to understanding and ultimately peace. i may need help to walk this path, but it is my duty to seek this help because i am ultimately responsible for my own peace.

until i understand what i think and feel, i am like a blind person trying to ward off blows that come from nowhere.

the first step in understanding is acknowledging my own thoughts and feelings no matter how unpleasant.

second, understanding means questioning my thoughts and feelings to determine their validity. just because my thoughts and feelings are mine does not make them true or worthy or acceptable.

understanding means a commitment to honesty: to see myself, other people, and events accurately to the best of my ability; to acknowledge what is fact and what is not; to be able to accept compliments and criticism from others and to evaluate them rationally.

until i honestly appraise my thoughts and feelings, i am like a child who can not tell the difference between fairy tales and reality.

the second step in understanding is honestly appraising my thoughts and feelings to the best of my ability.

third, understanding means accepting that i am not perfect and will never be, and that i will have inappropriate thoughts and feelings, but that the important thing is that i recognize those inappropriate thoughts and feelings and strive to change them.

i must understand that by changing those thoughts and feelings, i will change myself for the better, and that by changing myself for the better, i will change my inappropriate thoughts and feelings.

however, i must not belittle or attack myself for such thoughts and feelings. rather, i must be committed to identifying and changing them.

until i accept that i am in a continuous path of bettering myself, i am my own worst enemy, always at my own throat.

the third step of understanding is to be in a friendly relationship with reality and myself, one which will allow me to change for the better.

i.

i am first of all a living entity.

that is, i was born, i live, i will die.

being human, i have the ability for self-awareness.

that is, i can engage in abstract thought and self-reflexive behavior.

such self-awareness leads to certain questions: who am i? how will i live my life? what consequences will my actions have on others?

my ability to ask those questions demands i provide answers. my duty to provide answers demands i provide the best answers possible.

in order to provide such answers, self-awareness must fulfill three basic principles:

1. the principle of understanding;

2. the principle of choice; and

3. the principle of responsibility.

taken together, these principles mean that i am a living being who does not deny but rather accept reality as I am best able to understand it;

who actively makes choices and owns the choices made, whether good or bad;

and who understands and accepts the responsibility that comes from making choices and owns the consequences of those choices for myself and others.