My [teenage] philosophy on life

Here’s a rave (finally), this one a short treatise on my philosophy. It may be the most personal rave I’ve written yet, so I really hope you enjoy. My philosophy can be interpreted as a very pessimistic one. Although this is sometimes true, it’s for the most part a great way to live and—in my experience—allows for quite a bit of happiness. Here goes nothing.

I believe that nothing really makes that much of a difference. It matters little whether you drive a Ford or a Porsche, whether you’re a member of the “in” crowd or an outcast, whether you bought the latest sweater vest from American Eagle that’s all the rage. No matter what, you’re dying.

We all are. Every breath we take brings us closer to our last; every step is one closer to the grave. We’re all on our way out, and the sooner you realize that the happier you’ll be. It’s not easy to come to terms with; I’m still having trouble. It’s always difficult to accept something that’s without question a universal truth: the truth is that within a hundred years, your body will lie decomposing in the earth; your soul will be elsewhere if anywhere at all.

And since this is our last hurrah, the only and last lifetime we’ll ever be given, why not make the best of it? Why punish yourself with a job you hate and a life you can’t stand and a religion you’re trapped into when we’re all going to end up in the same place anyway: the cemetery?

I believe we should do everything in our power while on this earth to be happy, truly happy. This true happiness doesn’t come from the new iPod or the latest fashion trends or the newest, hip music. It stems from meaningful relationships with other people, sharing memories and other sentimentalities that really matter in the big scheme of things.

And while we’re at it, why not make everyone else happier too, to leave the earth better than it was when you met it? It is this belief that gives me, an atheist, his morality—do the right thing because it’s the right thing, not because it’s a passport to heaven or brownie points with god. We should act and think justly because that’s what we want for ourselves and for other people.