At some point in our lives, each of us is entitled to pass on a few nuggets from what we’ve learned if only to lift the burden that aging puts on our shoulders. Here are a few of mine. None is offered as the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. But they beat the dickens out of an empty slate.

We all find ourselves in an imperfect world, one that reflects many biases and a few hellish ideologies. We see injustices and do nothing about them. Why? Survival too often means we must “go along to get along.” We need income in order to survive. And so we pretend to be a part of the status quo in which we rise up by sucking up, or we will almost certainly find ourselves on the outside looking in. That is the nature of the beast. We did not create it, yet we know inwardly, at least, that we sink deeper into cowardice when we give in to it. We also secretly admire those few brave souls who refuse to sell their integrity to the status quo. Others have depicted this struggle by an imaginary angel on one shoulder, and a devil on the other. This portrayal constantly nags at our values and our consciences. It takes courage to acknowledge the rift, and much more to say “enough.” I opt for doing something better that reflects who I am, and what I choose to become.

At some point, we must eventually face that moment of truth. We know that in order to be true to ourselves, we must follow our inner set of values. Otherwise, we condemn ourselves to a life of slavery, a victim of the status quo, with no respect for finding ourselves, or following that alternate road marked “the good that we can do.”

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First, we need to face these truths: Life is always about struggles, injustices, and falling short of our goals. Get used to it. Life is also meant to be examined, by using our brains for finding our niche, and for reaching places and circumstances higher and higher along the precipice of the good that we can do. We will be mocked by those who cannot or will not follow their own star. Our best defense is knowledge without shortcuts; skills that help us and others; belief in ourselves; and progress along all those fronts that have meaning to us.

Progress is not about politics. It is not about servitude. There are no trophies to be gained, no diplomas for achievements, no testimonials. It is about discovery, and getting up after getting knocked down. It helps to have mentors. Not necessarily people we know, but inspirational teachers from the past will do: Socrates, Galileo, Joan of Arc, Horace Mann, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Carl Sagan are a few of mine.

Here is a visual that has served me well. I learned about it from a Frenchman with the pen name of Allen Kardec. He gave us 1,000+ enlightened answers to the same number of questions. Life is an uphill climb for everyone. We measure progress only in terms of being at a higher level than the one at which we came in. That is the sum and substance of it. We dare not compare ourselves to anyone but ourselves, the challenges we face, the obstacles we overcome, and the humility to accept our place on this mental treadmill as a measure of who we are, being careful to not judge ourselves or others. If we were to figuratively “zoom out,” where we could see our timeline, we might see 1,000 lifetimes before this one, and 1,000 more coming our way, thus we might conclude our spirits are indestructible, and reincarnation is the essential feature that begins to reveal a bit more about life and purpose—yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Suffice to say that Providence is the sole interpreter of this analogy depicting the meaning and the purpose of life.

From this simplified view, progress is about a personal agreement we each have with Providence. It is not a religion, not a doctrine, nor an ideology, and definitely not politically based. It is also free from criticism by those who claim to hold judgmental credentials. Progressivism is an offshoot of this description of purpose without injecting conservatism as its countervailing doctrine. Further enlightenment is found in 100 million personal revelations by those who have experienced near-death-experiences (NDEs), and other spiritual evidence searchable via artificial intelligence algorithms from the internet. With NDEs now numbering in the hundreds of millions worldwide, the principle of verifiability may soon need revision.

Today, a huge number of doctors, neuro-scientists, philosophers, other intellectuals, and here-to-fore non-believers from all walks of life have joined the ranks of those who have had first-hand near-death experiences. They all refute the notion that NDEs are psychological quirks, the final activities of dying brain cells, and other explanations requiring physical evidence.

This essay will have served its purpose if it helps others to ask serious questions about progress, and new ways of thinking about and evaluating old beliefs. Just as we dare not sacrifice the good in favor of the perfect, we err when we reject enlightenment in favor of an unattainable truth.