Good morning, digital neighbors! Blessed Advent and happy Wednesday! If wisdom is a gift from God, certain postures of the mind and will open us to receive more of it, while other dispositions close us off. Our current culture does not foster a longing for wisdom—in fact, it often does the opposite. That should come as no surprise to any of us here; our suspicion and doubt are well-founded.

Those entrusted with shaping culture and promoting the common good have massively betrayed that trust by sowing constant division, dissatisfaction, and a kind of self-hatred usually seen only in the severely mentally ill. I have to constantly watch and discern what I take in from social media—YouTube, X, and other platforms—lest I unknowingly adopt some of those deeply self-destructive attitudes of the heart. It can be exhausting to remain so vigilant. Often the simplest solution for me is just not going there at all. I don’t need to perch in front of my computer or have my phone glued to my face. (I’m glad you’re here right now, of course—otherwise we wouldn’t be sharing this moment—but I’m talking about hours and hours each day.)

When he wasn’t leading us on voyages in search of lost treasure or warning us about the darkness hidden in our hearts, Robert Louis Stevenson offered some wonderful dispositions of the will that open our lives to greater wisdom. I’m sure I’ve shared these before—at some point in the last five years here on Locals, and definitely back in October 2020 on The Rubin Report. It was a nice trip down memory lane: a morning conversation with Sept, Kathleen, and a few others in the days before ZOOM, TEAMS, or any other real-time video tools. Have a great day, my friends!

1.    Make up your mind to be happy. Learn to find pleasure in simple things.

2.    Make the best of your circumstances. No one has everything, and everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with the gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears.

3.    Don’t take yourself too seriously. Don’t think that somehow you should be protected from misfortunes that befall others.

4.    You can’t please everybody. Don’t let criticism worry you.

5.    Don’t let your neighbor set your standards. Be yourself.

6.    Do the things you enjoy doing, but stay out of debt.

7.    Don’t borrow trouble. Imaginary burdens are harder to bear than real ones.

8.    Since hate poisons the soul, do not cherish enmities or grudges. Avoid people who make you unhappy.

9.    Have many interests. If you can’t travel, read about new places.

10.Don’t hold post-mortems. Don’t spend your life brooding over sorrows and mistakes. Don’t be one who never gets over things.

11.Do what you can for those less fortunate than yourself.

12.Keep busy at something. A very busy person never has time to be unhappy.

— Robert Louis Stevenson, “A Pattern for Living”

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