I should live according to however I want to. It is the only true simple answer. Even if my answer is: “I want to live like somebody else,” that answer is still predicated by the fact that you could choose to live according to whoever you want to follow.

In turn, this ability to choose to live however one wants stands on a few claims about reality. First, that Free will exists, which, in turn, requires that a self, an active agent exists.

Only by believing in these two predicates can you truly answer the question “How should I live?” Once you accept that you are a self and that that self has free will (not just a robot), you have to accept that you have control over how you act. Even if you are forced to do something, you are still doing the action, not another person. You have the final say. That is why anyone forced to do something could do otherwise—with consequences, of course.

Once one believes on the predicates and on the simple answer that one should (actually, could, because there is no other way to do unless one is unconscious) live according to how one chooses, then the question of how one should live actually becomes: What kind of life or actions do you choose for yourself?

A life is nothing but a collection of actions. Humans act. Even the denial of action is an action. Even inaction is action, as long as it is made by a conscious individual.

Actions are conscious, meaning, they are inspired by self-aware thought. Thoughts come from two places: inside and outside.

So the next question would be: Do you choose to take actions from within yourself or from outside you?

Put into more intelligible words: Do you rely on yourself to define how to live? Or do you rely on others?

Going back to my previous line of thought, it might even be impossible to escape the self. The self ultimately chooses. But the inspirations for our actions could either be inspired by observing our inclinations or observing the inclinations of other people. Wouyld you rather meditate, journal, and observe over self or would you rather read an influencer, listen to your pastor, or browse your Facebook feed for inspiration on how to live?

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