Nature: Visit nature every day. Get plenty of sunshine. Walk barefoot on the grass. Watch the birds. It will reduce your stress, I promise. Humans used to live in nature and have direct contact with the elements. The Sun, the Moon, trees, and rivers were all constant features of our consciousness. I say we should keep them in our consciousness. Align your daily cycles with the natural light. Staying active outdoors will keep your body strong. And isn't the environment one of the biggest issues of our time? It is. So, being literally in touch with nature will keep you mindful of that fact.

Study: Learning first hand through personal trial and error is how to get hard won knowledge. Direct and real experience with your source of interest - be it foraging, bike-building, or painting. However, needless to say, you cannot study everything from scratch. The next natural step, then, is to study under mentors. Listening to those who've walked the path, and especially those who've fell off it (luck is not a teacher!) Even then, you cannot expect the best mentors to live where you do, nor even *when* you do. So, this is why you must read. Read, read, read. Books are the way for the greatest teachers and thinkers who've ever lived to give you their knowledge.

Family: Family is basically everything. Do I mean 'family' in the sense of mother, father, sister, brother, son, and daughter? Do I mean blood? No. Family is who's there for you. You know what I mean by this. The ones who come through thick and thin. Your rock. They *can* be your parents and children. And they can also be your friends. But, life isn't that straightforward, and it certainly isn't that fair. So, you must make a family, and make it larger, and deeper, and closer together.

Work: Work is meaningful social contribution. That's vague, but in this world it has to be. For early humans, you could potentially *eat* that contribution, or *see* that contribution defending your life. And throughout history, there have been highly needed roles: healer, warrior, parent. But, there are layers and layers of industry in this world. It is not always clear what work is worth. We must fight for genuinely meaningful work that helps others. And recognise overlooked forms of work, like chores and housework.

Rest: Rest? Isn't the world on fire, though? How could I possibly rest? Fire or not - you must rest. There is nothing smart or noble or good about burning your winter firewood over the course of a week. Not only can a lack of rest literally kill you, but you'll notice your effectiveness in all other domains plummet beforehand. So, rest. The most obvious interpretation of this is sleep - which you must get in a dark, quiet, and cool room regularly. But, why couldn't that just be night-rest? You can rest during the day with routine forms of meditation or prayer. Tigers sleep. Bees sleep. Even jellyfish sleep. You must get your rest. That's an order.

They're down to earth: You can literally imagine them, and I'll prove it: Think Nature - think of trees outdoors. Think Family - think of the faces of important people in your life. And last, think of rest - think of your bed on a quiet night. This is excellent. It keeps you grounded and tending to them. The alternative situation is to make things more abstract. For example (and it's a good example), "Truth". Everyone wants Truth, but does that mean mathematics, sitting atop a mountain, or something else? It's unclear. You can have "Truth" as a core value, or a parallel value, or you can work out your own system.

There's room for interpretation: One interpretation I like is: "the Family & the Household" both extend to "the Community & Nature". It's great, because it's thinking about different levels of "People & the World". You could go even smaller - "Me & my Room". And who's to say "Family" doesn't include friends or other fraternal connections? And how about the interpretation of "Rest" including some religious routines? In many ways, prayers can be a break from this world. Furthermore, there are plenty of forms of work once you consider it to be meaningful social contribution. Housework, homework, chores. And have you been made to think "study = books only"? Well, it doesn't have to. When you're learning how to fix a bike, or observing patterns of local wildlife, that's studying, too. This means they can work for everyone. Make them work for you.

There's a holistic and practical balance: In plain words, these priorities address the physical, the emotional, the social, and the intellectual aspects of life. So, they're very practical. They reinforce each other. For example, time well spent in nature can help you sleep like a rock. And having great sleep will keep your sharp during work and study. This interconnectedness and coverage of your whole life makes them holistic. And finally, they're definitely balanced. You must spend time with your family and resting, so these priorities prevent burnout at work. And you must study daily, so you will not reach old age without the ability to learn.

They are life long: For most people, these can genuinely be the ingredients of every day of their life. There are definitely exceptional people and exceptional times. But, the idea is to work for a world where that doesn't have to be the case. Every single day? Don't I want to quit all work eventually? And shouldn't I get rich so I can go on vacation constantly? No. "Work" has no necessary link to some made up "9 to 5, Monday to Friday employment" template. I see work as meaningful social contribution. This gives you purpose. Do not let it go. Housework, chores, volunteering, mentoring - these are all over-looked, valid forms of work. Kids can do chores, and the elderly can mentor, for example. There's room for responsibility for all. The others are without question. Think: If you interpret "studying" as learning, do you see it as a good thing to say, "I have learned nothing today"? Of course not! Make these your priorities every day.

They are five: It has to be said that you can read these off one hand: Nature, Study, Family, Work, Rest. There are hundreds of values out there. And none of the ones worth having conflict with these. Keep things simple.

Love and Happiness will come from having these priorities set up right and tended to. It's really as simple as that. In your experience you've seen bizarre, unhealthy, or twisted forms of love and happiness, right? 99% of the time it comes down to neglecting and not setting these priorities up right:


Love is implied in all of these. You study and work for the betterment of your family. That's love. You eat and clean and rest daily like you naturally would. That's you looking after yourself, which is true self-love.