Do you have concrete principles by which you live life?

i don't think of myself as held to all that many principles these days. who i am has more to do with circumstance and i just do the best i can with what i got. i mean like there's just so many possibilities and opportunities i want to be able to learn and profit from all of them, so it helps to be flexible.

i could respect/admire/enjoy people with principles, goes back to what i was saying above, depends on the circumstance. what's right for me isn't necessarily right for everyone else. same with people who feel differently than i do, i guess i rarely care enough to try and change someone's opinion on something. they probably have as many reasons as i do for feeling a certain way and who knows how much of their image and self worth are at stake.

i think how i talk to people who think differently than i do is based more on how they present themselves than how much our opinions differ, like if i argue with someone its not because i want to change their mind, it's usually tied to some other factor.

 

I think it is too difficult to say you have looked at all possibilites, life it too unpredicatable for that (sorry my more rigid Te needing to clarify). I have worked hard at defining the kind of woman I want to be and what the defining beliefs of my life are.

As for someone else being flexible, I would see that as one of their defining principles rather than a character flaw. Nobody says that we must decide everything and be firm and inflexible about our principles or ideals in life. Basically we change so much in life, particularily those early 20's, that to have such a rigid set of guidelines, IMO hampers true growth.

I tend to try and be cordial to everyone. If I get a strong Ni reaction (EWWW something is WRONG with this person) I tend to follow that instinct and distance myself and eliminate contact if possible. If I make a negative value judgement about someone, whether that changes how I deal with them depends on what it is that I don't care for and the other person's personality. I don't tend to make End All Be All statements about people--there will always usually be something annoying about them and something annoying about you to them.

I don't expect everyone to be like me (one of the signs of the end of days I am sure), neither do hold such obvious lacks (jokes) against them.

 

I've sought for rigid principles, to see if there was any sort of stability, or any sort of defining feature in myself. But the me tomorrow will only be more wise than the me today, so I always leave everything on the table. That being said, as I discover more about myself I have gotten more and more clear about what my criteria in life are. What seemed like a reasonable behavior a few months ago is now in principle not an option. Will that change later? Sure, but not until I've moved far enough away from it.

 

Principles have cost me a great deal over my life, but I still have them. I most likely will always have them. There are things I will never compromise.

I respect those that choose principles based on truth and what is fair, among many other possible things, mainly because I understand those people's choices as they were my very own through experience. In other words, I understand why they stand for what they believe in. I may not always agree with what they might stand up for, but at least they stand for something. It is much easier for one to sit on the couch and choose nothing. Taking the easy way out may not always be the best possible choice, if you know what I mean.

It is difficult for me to respect someone that has no principles when it shows to reflect darkness rather than light; selfishness before honor or dignity.

Those that have little to no principles are fine with me as long as they choose the right path when time knocks at the door to do so.

I would rather enjoy discussion with someone whose principles differed from mine, but only concerning subjects I wish to spend the energy on. If it were that important to the other person, I would still spend the energy for their sake. I think those that are selfish or have an "I" mentality are the ones I have the most problems with when trying to see things their way, even though they have a right to be so. Maybe I just do not hold them in high esteem.

 

Sure, I have principles, but probably only two or three that tend to have a very, very far reach. Because of this they are not particularly rigid but can flex to accomodate the realities of life.

As for others, I don't worry about that much. I just work with what I myself have been given.

 

I think I just try to do the right thing.

Everything for me is subjective so at any given time my principles might change depending on the necessity or my priorites or what I'm feeling. Kinda like picking your battles. I just try to do what is right in any given situation.

 

I'm pretty much in the same frame of mind as [MENTION=680]just me[/MENTION].

The one thing I'll usually end up doing is standing up for the underdog. If I find someone bullying someone else - I'll usually wade right into that and try to fix it. Gets me in trouble most times. But - I do it anyway. I'm hard headed like that. hwell:

 

In my opinion, a person's actions are more important than their personal philosophy. I keep in mind however that one's beliefs strongly influence one's actions. So if a person was a good person with undefined principles, I would still respect them. If however, they acted unprincipled as well, I would not.

There are things I refuse to do as a matter of principle.