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The Facts of Life -- Writer's Poke #137

For Writers:

I'm tempted to quote the theme song from the 1980s television show "The Facts of Life," but I won't. For those of you familiar with the show, I'm sure that the song is already starting to play on an endless loop inside your mind.

And for that, I apologize.

But on a more serious note, are there any "facts of life"? We live in an age where everything is relative. Most people seem scared to take a position or to stand up for something that they believe in. And anyway, as we all know, belief and facts don't always go together.

Your mission, if you're up to the challenge, is simply this: list as many facts about life as you can. And then, take it to the next level. Take those facts, and develop your life philosophy. For those of you that already have a life philosophy, don't impose your philosophy on the facts. Come up with the list of facts first, and then create your philosophy solely from those facts.

It will be interesting to see if your fact-based philosophy is at all similar to any life philosophy you might already claim to believe in.

What are the facts of life? Spend 15 minutes and brainstorm as many as you can come up with. Then, from that list, develop a fact-based life philosophy.

"That it will never come again is what makes life so sweet." -- Emily Dickinson

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