First post - what and why

If you read this, you are among the 1 billion people who live in affluence on this planet. Most of us are at the risk of living our lives to the end without doing enough of the stuff that matters - I know I do. This blog is about things that matter, and about attempts at finding a way to live a good life (without dedicating it to becoming something like Mother Theresa, Paris Hilton or whatever other extreme role models are out there).

The world is really messed up in many ways and places, and in entire countries there are only a handful of people who have the resources and advantages that are available to me (and probably you). This makes me feel that my contribution to the well-being of those people needs to be very substantial. Simply because we are relatively few people with the resources to do anything about the messed-upness all around, and because even if I spend - say - 10% of my time and resources on this, I will still be enormously better off than if I were born in - say - Somalia or Bolivia.

I plan to blog about quite specific thing rather than lofty principles, but here are the simple ideas that will underly the posts:

1. Do no harm. Quite simply: I want to abolish any negative impact I have on other people and on the world I live in. I want to clean up my own mess, I want to be truthful, I want to be always respectful, and so on. Since I am not the Dalai Lama, I will never even get close. But it will be OK as long as I really tried.
2. Do some good: I have to find some contribution I can make that fits where I am in life. Right now, I have so little time that it is easier for me to contribute money than anything else. Other people have more time (which may sometimes be more rewarding to give, too).
   
3. Look for happiness: Few teams are stronger that the groups of four US Navy Seals who are world class professionals who trust each other with their lives on a routine basis. A very important basis of their team work is, however, each team member's responsibility for looking after themselves. If you don't, then you burden the team. This is a good rationale for looking out for your own happiness: Even if being a good human being means caring for the sum of the happiness of all humanity, then each of us still needs to take responsibility for our own happiness. I like to hold on to this thought when I drink beer and play poker with friends.

Finally, I think it is really hard to write anything on these subjects without coming across as pompous and pontificating. So I probably will at times. Feel free to let me know.