GUILLÉN'S THREE LAWS OF LIFE: Laws #2 and #3

Wednesday, 13 August 2025

Glorious Afternoon My Precious Fellow Traveler!

In this letter I wish to finish sharing with you the final two of what I call my secular “Laws of Life.” The most important laws, of course, are rooted in the Bible.

I began formulating these practical laws when I was at ABC News & my producers loved them. They’re based completely on experience: The more we live, the more we learn – usually, unfortunately, the hard way.

I hope you find them useful, as you yourself continue living and learning.

Law #2: If you ignore small problems, they won’t go away, they’ll only get bigger & worse. Nip them in the bud.

Problems present themselves to us every day. You might even say that life is one, long, unending series of problems.

Usually there are many possible solutions to a problem - some better than others. That’s why I’ve always lived by the motto: “For every problem there is an optimal solution.” It’s a strategy I learned from being a mathematician.

Truth is, most people tend to procrastinate – to wait until the last minute to solve a problem they hope will go away on its own. It won’t. Chances are, in fact, it’ll only get worse and worse – it’ll snowball – until finally it grows into a looming crisis that forces them to scramble, or else face serious consequences.

I choose to solve a problem the moment I’m aware if it. Sure, it might upset my schedule – it might be inconvenient and unpleasant – but better to deal with a momentary disruption/unpleasantry than a panicky emergency later on.

Put simply: I see problems in life like pitches in a baseball game. Whether they’re fast balls, slow balls, or curve balls, I swat at them right away – ideally, whack them out of the ballpark.

Law #3: Don’t waste your life replying to people’s misguided assertions.

It’s a sad truth in life: Most people are not well informed. I see this every day on my social media pages.

When I was younger I would take the time to reply to every misstatement I heard or read - especially, of course, if it concerned science. I felt good about setting the record straight.

Nowadays the problem has grown far worse because social media provides free platforms to trolls whose sole purpose is getting a rise out of their targets. It’s a fool’s errand giving such misguided folks any sort of reply.

The best thing to do is to not reply to their nonsense. Silence is the most sensible response.

What’s more, I no longer have any interest in persuading anyone to believe this or that about anything. It sounds harsh, but I’ve learned that - as the old saying goes - none are so blind as those who will not see.

It’s actually a very Christian approach - the one Jesus himself took when he dispatched his disciples, two by two, to proclaim the Good News. He, too, saw no point in spending time and energy to convince people whose minds were shut tight to the truth.

Nowadays, my top priority is simply to give my testimony - to explain as well as I can what happened to me on my long, winding journey from Atheism to Christianity. I do so in the hope that my arduous experience might help and encourage others who are struggling - as I struggled - to figure out our vast, magnificent, mysterious universe and our very special place in it.

If my testimony is helpful to my fellow travelers around the world, great. If it isn’t, I wish them well anyway.

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words,

leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”

Mathew 10:14 (NIV)

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Thank you and God bless you.

Love,