Some Axioms, Values, Prayers, and Other Truths

These are some critical ideas that highly influence my approach to life, in no particular order.

“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. “
(The Serenity Prayer)

The Serenity Prayer is perhaps the most simple, yet profound advice I have ever received - and it’s a prayer I recite frequently. By internalizing this message, you have a complete framework for acceptance and purpose.

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“Everyone has two lives, and the second begins when you realize you only have one. “

Hello, only me
Up on tip toes trying to see
I was outside looking in
When I caught my reflection

I saw myself for the first time in a long while
…

Just like me, to not look properly
Just like me, to give up so softly
Just like me, beating my hands on the floor
Just like me, not like me anymore

'Cause I, I fеlt the colours drain away
Summer fade to grеy
And I pushed the world away

- “MIGHT DELETE LATER”, LARRY PINK THE HUMAN

Seek to surround yourself with people who are on their second life - these people are very fun, and will provide a wealth and depth to your life that is beyond words. Our life is finite, and I believe that regularly reflecting on this truth brings out the best in each of us.

As the lyrics state - from time to time you’ll need to “catch your reflection” from time to time, evaluate, and adjust - but that’s exactly what your second life is all about. Don’t push the world away.

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What you do is who you are, but you are not your mistakes.

This is a paradox pieced together from Ben Horowitz’s ideas on building culture within your organization alongwith general guidance on giving yourself grace. Your behavior reveals deep truths about yourself - but life is a journey, a journey in which YOU have the power to become the person you wish to be.

Ben Horowitz’ famous entrepreneurship book, “What You Do Is Who You Are”

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“Who’s got it better than us? NOBODY!”
- Jim Harbaugh

Stay grounded, in nearly all circumstances, there is much to be grateful for. We must always recognize that optimism is essential to human flourishing and improving our condition.

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We MUST cherish our children, our family, and our friends

Some might say that the above statement is self-evident, but the reality of modern life tells a different story.

• People are having less children, having children later, and families are smaller than ever before.

• Demographic collapse is a major challenge.

• The “nuclear family” is demonized by some in the West.

• People have more problems with isolation/loneliness than ever before.

The meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
- Nelson Henderson

While having children is a personal choice and not for everyone, I believe it is vital—to our happiness, our sense of purpose, and to the ongoing work of building a society worth inheriting.

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.
- George Moore

We spend so much of our lives chasing meaning, success, or identity out in the world, only to realize it's been with us all along. The real center of our life is our HOME... our family, our friends, our people.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival.
- C.S. Lewis

We don’t need friends to survive, but we need them to make survival worth it. Friends don’t feed us or clothe us, but they remind us who we are, carry the weight with us, and give life texture, laughter, and meaning.

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The future of human prosperity is, for now, contingent on American exceptionalism. 🇺🇸

“The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind.”
- Thomas Paine

“No experiment in history has done more to uplift the human condition than the American experiment.”
- Many/Common Convention amongst American Exceptionalists(?)

Nearly all relative change in global poverty statistics have occured post-American Revolution.

It's a stretch to assign strict causality to the chart above, but I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of humanity’s progress in well-being has taken place under a global hegemon rooted in beliefs about freedom, markets, technology, and progress. Maybe humanity has outgrown the need for America—or maybe that time will come. But I believe America remains a mission-critical institution for human prosperity. For sake of brevity here, suffice it to say this is a very complex topic that may be better suited for it’s own dedicated post or topic. Nonetheless, this is my “truth”! 🇺🇸

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Rituals are under-rated.

Rituals give shape to belief, rhythm to time, and roots to identity. Without them, we drift. With them, we return—to purpose, presence, and something greater than ourselves.

I did not believe this to be true until I married my wife in front of all of our family, friends, and loved ones.

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Atheism is not only a religion, but also “anti-science”.

Atheism isn’t the absence of religion—it’s one of the most rigid. It demands absolute faith in randomness, worship of human reason, and certainty that residual mystery is a myth. In doing so, it becomes anti-spiritual, anti-intellectual, and profoundly unscientific. Simply put, atheism refuses to consider what we cannot control, measure, comprehend, or explain.

“God is dead. God remains dead. And we have killed him.
How shall we comfort ourselves, the murderers of all murderers?
What was holiest and mightiest of all that the world has yet owned has bled to death under our knives: who will wipe this blood off us?
What water is there for us to clean ourselves?
What festivals of atonement, what sacred games shall we have to invent?
Must we ourselves not become gods simply to appear worthy of it?”

- Friedrich Nietzsche, The Gay Science

I believe God is real - but that’s not the point I’m making, nor was it the point that Nietzsche (an atheist himself) was making.

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All great organizations are cults.

This applies to companies, teams, families, religions, etc - any group of people. They have doctrine, language, ritual, and belief. They ask for more than labor—they demand loyalty, identity, and faith. And the best ones return meaning in exchange.

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“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have.”
— Eckhart Tolle

The present is where choice, change, and meaning live. To get the most out of life, we must show up fully in THIS moment.