Physically condition yourself, enjoy quality sleep that is enough, observe the religion of your parents, study, learn and hopefully become wise, expose yourself to sunshine, eat high quality food, drink only water or wine, don’t do to others what you don’t want for yourself.
Edit: please, articulate why you downvote. If you are a nihilist atheist and can’t stand that somebody suggests religion, please say so.
I didn't vote (and HN guidelines discourage talking about the votes themselves), but I do think observing the religion of my parents would be a mistake. Not to say religion/spirituality has no value, but religious institutions are often corrupt and hypocritical.
I'd also object to selecting a religion just because it was what my parents observed.
Yes, it's a painful hit to the ego to receive downvotes, but in my experience any post that is downvoted early undeservedly will be upvoted back into the black fairly swiftly.
No downvotes here... This is a thread about asking for opinions and advice, and all should be able to be on the table. I am curious as to 'why observe the religion of your parents' is something you advise. For me, not doing so was a painful process for myself and my family in some ways, but continuing to do so was personally untenable. From an objective viewpoint I see the benefits that individuals and communities see from religious cohesion: increased social ties, increased lifespan [1], charitable involvement, etc. I also observe religious institutions as bastions of abuse, misinformation, regressive social stances, and conquest. These are difficult issues to unpack and perhaps this isn't the venue, but I am interested in your perspective on why it is part of the self-care advice you offered.
In principle I was advising to at least observe a religion in a general sense. Once that’s established, only if there is an inexcusable reason and absolute understanding would I recommend to change one’s religion away from that of one’s parents. It’s not that you can’t, but there should be a strong deliberate motive.
Most will read it with an individualistic, reductionist, tabula rasa understanding of Man, in which one can think of religion as a set of rules and beliefs that can be analyzed and chosen like one chooses a career. Under that understanding, the religion of your parents is arbitrary. However, I consider that religion is integral to life and inextricable from oneself, and that we are in fact eternally related to our ancestors.
Edit: This coming from a mechanical engineer with a PhD in finance.
Edit: please, articulate why you downvote. If you are a nihilist atheist and can’t stand that somebody suggests religion, please say so.