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things do not stand much looking into -- character in a Joseph Conrad novel
1) I determine my future through my actions and choices. 2) Kindness is the greatest gift we can give each other. 3) Be quick to forgive and slow to forget. 4) Love, Life and Freedom are worth fighting for.
As for how I go about life:
Don't complain, just do what needs to be done and don't take unnecessary shit from anybody. Always help others and treat them with the respect they deserve. Always aim for happiness and don't spend too much time on the sad parts of life.
Sorry if this sounds too -I don't know the word-, but it works for me and I'm generally happier than everyone around me.
I read lots of philosophy. In fact I mostly read philosophy, even those I don't agree with, because it provokes thought.
Reading philosophy cured me of Determinism long ago :)
Quantum Physics is one of the few branches of science that is not always predictable. Even more, our inability to predict is not based on a lack of ability to measure precisely or lack of computing power. Quantum physics gives our world an elements of spontaneity.
The philosophy that I have, that most people disagree with is "Given that Ignorance of a thing is or would be bliss, that thing is not immoral"
So if I steal and give it back, but they would never have used it in the interim, I am fine, even if they found out and got angry, because Ignorance would have been bliss.
If I violate somebody's privacy, but never change my interactions with them based on it, and never reveal what I know to other people, I am fine. Because they are doing precisely as well as they would if I had not.
If it looks at a situation and predicts losses in one or more of those areas, or more losses than gains, then it makes the imagined scenario feel bad/scary/anxiety inducing/unsafe/dangerous/miserable.
Then on top of that I have a conscious mind which rationalises what I do and pretends it was the result of some kind of philosophy or wisdom or moral choice.
Like a lot of people, I've accidentally learned a lot of rules which make the predictions very inaccurate and I'm slowly working on correcting them as I find them. After that (in a few years, maybe more), who knows who I'll be.
Or, in the words of Frank Sinatra: "If you're going to do it, it's no good unless you do it all the way"
Or Lao Tzu: "Wheresoever you go, go with all your heart"
Taking up a sport? Put in the effort to get good at it. Going travelling? Quit your job and take a year doing it right. Building a startup? Go big.