Life's great truths do not always have to sound profound

Six years ago, on a site that no longer exists (All Voices), I wrote about people's opinions about what really matters in the world.

I came across it today, and with some minor additions and corrections, here it is from June 2, 2010.

***

I was going to wait longer to write this article, in hopes of getting still more comments. But I had the most amazing experience today, one that changed my life completely, and I figured I ought to write about it.

I'm going to bury the lead, though. I'm going to start with the basic truths of life other people have given me and then tell you about my own.


I asked for help in three different places -- AllVoices, from my friends on Facebook and then with a number of e-mails to friends and family. Here's what people told me they thought were the basic truths of life:

My closest friend of 45 (now 51) years, Mick Curran of Pasadena, California, wrote these:

"It is possible to disagree and not be disagreeable."

"It isn't what we say that matters most, but what we do -- especially under duress, particularly in regard to moral and ethical issues -- that defines who we are."

""Be careful what you think about; you will eventually talk about it. Be careful what you talk about; you will eventually do it. Be careful what you do; it will eventually become a habit. Be careful of your habits, they will eventually become your lifestyle. Be careful in regard to your lifestyle, it will eventually become your destiny."

My old friend Donna Sizemore Hale from Northern Virginia:

"It is better to stand out than to fit in."

A relative of mine who wishes to remain anonymous:

"He who has hope, has everything."

My friend Hardy Wright, from All Voices:

"It is better to do what's right than what's popular."

"The debtor is slave to the creditor."

My old friend John Burke of Baton Rouge, La.:

"Don't sweat the small stuff."

"If you don't want a ticket for double parking, don't double park."

Sarah Sofia Granborg from AllVoices:

"Believe in yourself. Trust in what you know to be right. Live what you believe."

Robert Weller from AllVoices:

"What we do echoes in eternity."

My young friend Melody Thatcher Helland from La Canada, California:

"Research -- look deeply into those topics you aren't sure or aware of; you will be shocked into change for the better, for yourself and others."

My friend Joel Rosenfeld of Las Vegas, Nevada, with one serious one and one whimsical one:

"In life, go for it. You will regret the things you didn't do more than you regret the things you did."

"A friend will help you move; a good friend will help you move a body."

My friend Tracey Oake of Alberta, Canada:

"Life is what we make of it and we only get one shot, so make the most of it and live your life to the fullest.

Lori Van Natta from AllVoices:

"A government that does everything for you can do anything to you."

My old friend Christine Worth Miller of Sarasota, Fla., channeling John Lennon (and Mister Sinatra):

"Whatever gets you through the night, is all right."

A young woman who calls herself a211423 from AllVoices, quoting Mohandas Gandhi:

"We grow from truth to truth."

Jacobus, from AllVoices, quoting first Jewel Kilcher and second Jim Redman:

"In the end, only kindness matters."

"Encourage perfection of the good; demand perfection and the good ceases to exist."

The prolific Punditty from AllVoices:

"What you look for is what you see."

Kelly Woodcox from AllVoices:

"Eat to live rather than live to eat."

Andy Mathisen from AllVoices:

"We should learn to live with less and enjoy life more."

Teresa Berglund from AllVoices:

"Hatred is like dust on the floor."

"If you can't eat it, wear it or live in it, sell it."

***

All right, if I left any truths out, I'm sorry.

Now I want to move on to my own experience. I had been working on this all week, making a relatively long list of what I thought were some basic truths of life.

But with the idea of truth in mind, something came to me today. This is going to sound strange to some of you, presumptuous to others and just plain crazy to still others, but I had a vision today.

I have been undergoing some hypnotherapy the last couple of weeks to foster positive thinking, and during my session today, something incredible happened.

Call it God, or simply the divine spark deep within a person, but I honestly received a message of wisdom today.

Here is my basic truth of life:

If we love God (not the God of any particular religion), love our neighbor and stop regretting those failures or shortcomings from our past that we can no longer do anything about, we can change the world for the better with unselfish behavior.

I didn't say it was original, or even that I thought any of it up myself.

It isn't about government doing anything for us -- or to us. It isn't about Socialism or Libertarianism.

What it's about is that if all of us simply try to make the world a better place for those we love and those we know, the world will become a better place for us.

Sometimes it can mean as little as smiling at a person or saying an encouraging word. Either can create enough positive feeling to change someone else's day for the better.

Sometimes it can be a helping hand to someone who needs it. Enough smiles, enough kind words and enough helping hands and eventually the world becomes a better place.

A much better place.

That's my message of truth, and that's my story.