Make it good.

Freud says that there are three parts of our brains. The Id, the Ego, and the Superego. The Id is what makes you desire what you want when you want it. It is necessary for babies to receive care and food. When they are hungry, their Id makes them wail. This is what makes you want to satisfy your needs automatically and without the balance of the other two parts of your brain would make us all savage.
In Lord of the Flies, young, British boys are stuck together on an island and create their own society. Some of them decide to follow basic moral code and rules of a society while others become a product of their surrounding. They become savage jungle people. All it took for one boy to turn was killing his first pig. When he took control of another life, he lost control of his and let his desires overcome him. These boys were given a free place with an opportunity to do whatever they wanted without societal consequences.
The other day I was at a red light trying to turn left. Nobody was coming. Nobody was at the light. Nobody was next to me to see me. Why didn't I turn left?
Can I say I am morally good for that reason? Or do I simply uphold the rules and standards set around me? By whose standards do I chose to live? Are we in control of our own selves? Are we battling our desires against rules? Or are we conforming to the rules because we know they are for our own good?

But this is life. We are here. It is good. So shan't we live well? If I am well, but what I do makes you not well, I am not as well as I can be. We benefit from the well being of all those around us, and others should benefit from us. Because that is good.
Stop and think about what you are thinking about. Think about what you are doing. Think about why you are doing it. Think about who is involved and affected. Think about how you benefit and how others do as well. Stop at red lights.

Attack it.

I knew a kid who said, "attack life; it's going to kill you anyway."
The beauty of this world is how different we all are created. Diversity is a celebration of those differences. Embrace diversity.
No day, no minute will pass that can be relived. 2:14 on March 3rd, 1964 will ever happen again. Rachel Elizabeth Raineri, born on September 3rd, 1995, who doesn't like pineapple, loves meeting new people and indulges in competition will not walk this world again.
Make it your own.

Is it better to thoroughly be yourself always or learn to adjust to certain situations? Which situations require some adjustment? How much of a product of your surroundings are you? Where have you lowered any of your standards? Is all change good or bad or is some simply change? Is life all black and white and is there only one right answer to everything? How often do you think about the effect of what you do has on others?

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."
Mahatma Gandhi.

I don't believe in stereotypes and I dislike generalizations. No one person perfectly fits into one description and can be predicted based on some part of their character. People are capricious; always give them a chance.

Whether you are an extrovert, love card tricks, prefer manual labor, are romantic, dream of serving in Africa, love numbers, don't do well in groups, or none of the above... attack life.

Choose it.

I had a music teacher who said, "Rules are for fools." That wasn't to say that people who follow rules are fools, but rather that rules are made because of foolish people.

It has been said that "opinions are like butts; everyone has one and they all stink." Each day there are new controversies.

Are you against abortion, or do you think people deserve the choice? Should church and state be kept separate? How big of an age gap in a relationship is too big? Is new technology destroying the authentic values of life? Should gay marriage be legal?

If you say you stand for anything, know why. Put thought into the decisions you make. Decide for yourself what you stand for.
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." -- 1 Peter 3:15

The ideas we hear, the people we meet, the literature we read, the places we go all influence our opinions and decisions. Don't be afraid to agree or disagree with people but understand your opinion and what backs it before making an argument.
Just because it is someone else's opinion does not make it wrong. Be open-minded, but also know what you think. And your opinion may change over time; we evolve, we grow.

"Don't be too openminded that your brains fall out."
-- Anonymous

Value it.

Awakenings (1990) is a movie about catatonic patients who experience one long period followed by various other brief periods of "awakening" due to medical experiments.
A quote from the film:
"The summer was extraordinary. It was a season of rebirth and innocence. A miracle. For fifteen patients and for us, the caretakers. But now we have to adjust to the realities of the miracles. We can hide behind the veil of science and say 'It was the drug that failed'. Or that the illness itself had returned, or that the patients were unable to cope, losing decades of their lives. The reality is - we don't know what went wrong any more than we know what went right. What we do know is that as the chemical window closed, another awakening took place. That the human spirit is more powerful than any drug and that is what needs to be nourished. With work, play, friendship, family. These are the things that matter. This is what we've forgotten. The simplest things."

Experiments and dicoveries yield documentable results, but life isn't a chart or graph. 

Where do we find the value in life? How can it be that a young child in a third world country can be happier than a successful business man or even a mother of three? Is a catatonic life worth living? Would it be better for some people to be sterilized or defective children to be aborted? How do some victims of abuse and rape come out on top, conquering their pain while others commit suicide? If, in order to have a larger sense of freedom, basic freedoms must be violated, is it worth it?

What consumes you in life? What gives you importance? What dictates your happiness? 

Because of hardships we recognize joys, because of chaos we recognize peace, because of lack we recognize fulfillment, because of loss we recognize love. 

We are granted one existence made up of a string of occurrences. Each has its own importance; are the sum of the parts greater than the whole? 

Take care of your words and your actions. One match can light a whole forest on fire, but one drop of water cannot subside the flame.

Live it Grand

This is life. It is an oportunity. It is an adventure. It is grand. Do not expect yours to be like anyone else's. Walk in the park by yourself. Dance with your dog. Watch a child take deliberate steps. Take a bath with candles. People watch! Listen to loud music. Inhale the crisp winter air into your lungs. Don't think about your response while someone speaks to you. Watch silent movies. Listen to a baby's laughter. Hug a tree. Wear a hat on your birthday. Do something nice for someone else. Go abroad!
This is life; live it grand.