Philosophy Discussion Forums

Eckhart Aurelius Hughes is the author of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All. He also runs a free mentoring program that guarantees success..

There is nothing you must do.

Whatever it is, if it's truly out of your control, it's not something you are doing. It might be something your body does, but it's not something you--the real you--are doing. That's why we don't say, "I beat my heart." Your heart beats; you don't beat it.

In contrast, if it is in your control, then it's not something you must do; it's something you are choosing to do.

For instance, you might falsely think the slave words, "I must take care of my kids." But that is a miserable lie, proven by the fact that there are many deadbeat neglectful parents who are voluntarily absent from their kids lives. No, the true thing to happily say would be, "I am choosing to take care of my kids."

There is nothing you must do. In reality, you are a free spirit, whether you like it or not. Everything you do is a choice. And, when it comes to your choices, you always get exactly what you want, meaning what you choose.

Pretending to be a slave can be a very comforting, albeit miserable and fulfilling, lie. But it's always still exactly that: a lie.

No matter how much the alcoholic might comfort himself by dishonestly saying, "I have to drink," the truth is that there is nothing he has to do, just like there is nothing you have to do. The simple truth is that you are simply getting what you choose.

Invincible true happiness and unwavering spiritual fulfillment (a.k.a. invincible free-spirited inner peace) is simply accepting and happily loving the inescapable fact that you always get exactly what you want, meaning what you choose. In other words, it's as simple, infinitely easy, and infinitely inexpensive as simply accepting and happily loving the inescapable fact that there is nothing you must do.

You are free whether you like it or not. True happiness is liking it. When you happily like what cannot be taken from you--such as your invincible inescapable spiritual; freedom--then your happiness is invincible too. That is true happiness. That is inner peace. That is unwavering spiritual fulfillment.

Your body will always hunger so long as it lives. But your spirit can be fulfilled, such that you--the real you--never hunger again, neither figuratively nor literally.

Your body may fight and be at war, even if just the fight and war to battle death and stay alive. But your spirit will be at peace. No matter how much outer war there is, you will have invincible inner peace.


With love,
Eckhart Aurelius Hughes







Eckhart Aurelius Hughes is the author of In It Together: The Beautiful Struggle Uniting Us All. He also runs a free mentoring program that guarantees success.. Success at your chosen goal is guaranteed, whether it is a financial goal, fitness goal, or any other ambitious but at least theoretically possible goal. If your goal is to become a millionaire, it will happen if you follow his system, guaranteed. If you weigh 350 lbs and your goal is to lose 200 lbs and get 6-pack abs, it will happen if you follow his system, guaranteed.

I remember when I went to Vo-tech years ago, I had a teacher who would always say 'Life is Choices'. I was in my early 20's then, and I was not wanting to hear all that, but looking back at it, and throughout the years, I realized how right she was. Nobody can force us to do anything if we can help it.

This actually makes a lot of sense with the accurate understanding. Must excludes choice, so it excludes do. Therefore must and do cannot go together. You choose to do.

When you ponder over it, this actually feels right. It is correct that there is nothing you must do. It's all choices. As a mother, taking care of my kids is what I choose to do and I do it happily. Combine free spirit and self-discipline to attain that inner peace we all aim for.

While I wholeheartedly agree that everything we do are our own choices, and the things that just happen and we cannot control are neither our obligations nor our choices, I wonder how this applies to social structures and organisations like the military.

Yes, you will say that you still have a choice when you are commanded to do something, or you always had the choice to not to join the military but you chose to join. But still, aren't we obliged to do certain things in such scenarios and situations? What happens to the social structures and social agreements when everyone chooses to act on their own and as they wish as per their choices?