There are some major paradigms one needs to have in place in order to survive and thrive in life. These include how to deal with philosophical uncertainty, how to deal with physical pain, and how to deal with psychological distress.

I have a paradigm that I have been using for about a year that helps me deal with philosophical uncertainty, namely, living in appointed times by faith. I am currently working on paradigms to deal with physical pain and psychological distress.

To keep things simple, though, it is helpful to just think of this present moment. What should I be doing right now? This is especially helpful if you already have a general time paradigm in place, as I do. Usually, my consciousness can lead me in the right direction as far as the next activity or thought focus goes. Brooding, which I define as unproductive deep thought, is never the next right thing.

What if I genuinely do not know what the next right thing or best action is? In this case, some principles should be kept in mind.

• Always fulfill vows. If you don’t have any vows that you need to keep, then you don’t need to worry about this. However, if you have made a vow or two, you should make sure you keep these at all costs, even if you neglect virtually everything else.
• Be proactive with monthly challenge. If you have followed my blog for the past couple months, you will have noticed that I make a monthly challenge each month. Whatever I do or don’t do with other areas of my life, this should be something into which I put energy and attention. If you don’t do this, I would highly encourage you to start.
• Don’t negate other focuses. In addition to vows and monthly challenges, I also have other general focuses, either Scriptural or conscious-related. These don’t always have to be positively pursued, but they definitely should not be disregarded either. If you had a focus of doing good to someone you know, at the very least make sure you don’t do them harm.
• Do things that are both urgent and important. This point kind of goes without saying, but needs to be said in case you are just really down in the dumps or questioning the meaning of everything in life. Allow your common sense to determine what these are if needed. Exercising is usually important but not urgent. Preparing for a Toastmasters speech before I need to leave for the meeting is urgent but not that important. I could just give a sub-par speech, or call the president and say I cannot make it that evening.

I am hoping that by writing this down and looking at it, I will make these instructions a part of my life. As I am writing this, I have a headache and the tendons in my arm and wrist hurt, but I am committed to do the next right thing. How about you?