Rules in life
"Rules in life" are just beliefs or philosophies on how we should go through life. We all create our own "rules in life" and as we get older the list of rules we create gets longer. These are the "rules in life" I have created so far and will most likely keep adding to for the rest of my life.
Rules in life.... On the discovery of oneself On Interacting with People On being happy
On personal prosperity and growth
Life = Life is a bunch of little moments stacked on top of each other and yesterday already feels like it was just another dream I once had. After you accumulate enough of these moments, try to reflect back on them from time to time. By reflecting on these moments, you gain a better understanding of yourself because your actions of the past have molded you into the person that you are today. Make sure you remember, think about, and appreciate every moment along the way, regardless of how small it is, because someday you will realize that some of the littlest moments of the past are what mean the most to you today.
Take Pictures = As one day leads on into the next, it is easy to forget the details of yesterday. Take pictures along the way so that you may never forget who you are, where you've been, or what has made you the person that you are today. One simple image can allow you to remember every sight, sound, and feeling of a moment in time. We need to remember where we've been, in life, to help understand who we are today.
Life’s like a "Choose Your Own Adventure Book" = For those of you who have never heard of this book, it basically told a story with you being the main character. Every two pages or so you were faced with a dilemma or situation and you had to make a choice. You didn't know the outcome of your choice, but you made your decision and then turned to the appropriate page for that choice. Many times the choice you made didn't turn out like it was supposed to or at least how you thought it was supposed to, but it was too late. You already made your choice and you can't go back. All you can do is continue to read and hope the next choice will work out better.
Be Spiritual / Believe in a higher power = It's often been said that the only guarantee in life is that someday, and at no set time, you are going to die. Don't think of this as a depressing thing and don't spend a lifetime ignoring the fact that this is going to happen. Maybe you will be lucky enough to grow old or maybe you'll die in your youth. You never know what today or tomorrow offers you and life promises you nothing so don't wait. Even if you do make it to a ripe old age you might not have enough time to acquaint yourself with your maker or you may be too senile to perform the task. We are really too simple to fully understand the world around us but considering that everything is all based upon a hierarchy a higher power really makes sense.
Follow through with your dreams = If you don't follow through with your dreams or then your missing out on one of he biggest reasons why you live life.
Talk to Everyone = Some people are idiots and some are very profound geniuses, but you never know until you make that first contact. Some people have nothing to give and some will change your life forever, but you never know until you make that first contact.
Be honest = Don't lie to people. Lay it out for what it is. You will never make everyone happy and their are no rules in life that say you are supposed to. Politicians have been trying to do this for years and it doesn't work. If someone asks you how you are doing and you are having a bad day then tell them you are having a bad day.
Be Nice and Polite to Everyone = That is unless they give you a VERY good reason not to be. Then it is OK to be honest.
Care about people = If we don't have meaningful interaction with each other then why do we interact at all?
The world is full of many shade of gray = As a kid growing up I had television, songs, and various story or history books telling me that my perspectives on life should be black and white, right vs. wrong, good guy vs. bad guy, and good vs. evil. I now realize that this is not realistic thinking because the worlds perceptions on what is right, wrong, good, and evil are all distorted depending upon your experiences and environment. You don't have to think too hard when you view the world as black and white, right vs. wrong, and good vs. evil so most people like to think this way. Life isn't easy and viewing the world as many shades of gray is too much for anyone to ever fully understand. At times we are all right and we are all wrong. At times we all do good and we all do evil. The trick is to try to do the good right thing as much as you can, don't hurt others in any way, and try to help others see or understand that in a way that is also good and right.
Drink Beer = Not that I am saying "become an alcoholic" or anything, but some of the best conversations I ever had in life have been at a local pub. People's inner personalities seem to come out after a few.
Don't hang around with people that bring you down = It takes all kinds to make a world. This gives you a smorgasbord of people to hang around with. Don't feel you need to hang around with people who suck the life out of you just because they are there.
Live and let live = It takes all kinds to make a world. Don't think that the world rotates around you and your ideas. Nobody cares and it makes life more difficult to judge everyone from your point of view. Don't think you can change them and don't even try. How would you feel if someone came up to you and said "I don't like who you are and I think you should change into this person." You would probably tell them to take a flying leap off of a Buick or something. There are no rules for us in life other than the ones we create for ourselves. Don't push your view on other people.
Try not to pass judgment on others = Many succeed in life and many fail, and all at different times frames. We can never predict at what point in time someone will either succeed or fail. We can never predict our own successes or failures and everyone's level of success and failures are different. You have the right to not participate in someone else's failures but you do not have the right to condemn them.
Never Argue = It will just make you crazy and nothing will get solved anyway. Try to show what things look like from your perspective, but always understand that the other person my not be aware of your situation or they may have their own reasons or viewpoints that you also need to understand.
Don't tell someone that they are wrong, that they have a bad idea, or there idea won't work unless you feel you have a better idea and can prove why it is better. = Be prepared to back up you idea and give those reasons right away as to why you think that the person has a bad idea. Lastly, try to be polite during the process of explaining why they have such a bad idea and try to use words like "Here's another way of looking at that" or "Let's look at this from another perspective." Nobody likes to feel stupid but we all miss things from time to time or we may not have looked at an issue from every perspective.
How we perceive the way others communicate means everything = Everyday we interact with people. Sometimes we interact with people that we could perceive as being rude, impolite, and stupid. More often than not those people are trying to be cute, funny, and wise rather than rude, impolite, and stupid. Try to perceive any questionable comments as them attempting to be cute, funny or wise but they just aren't that good at it yet.
Expose yourself to the world = Not the naked way unless you really feel you need to. Don't be afraid to show the world who you are and how you feel. It's not good to keep that stuff bottled up inside and life is about sharing, even if it is a small part of yourself. I know that some people don't care, some don't want to hear about it, and some people will criticize you. Just remember that every great person had their share of criticism in there day.
When you meet someone for the first time try not to immediately ask them what they do for a living. Your first impressions could be perceived as being competitive, degrading, or you could be stereotyping right from the start if your first words are "So what do you do for a living." Most people would rather talk about hobbies and a person should at least leave the door open for things they enjoy. You will also get a better understanding of the person if you know their hobbies first. After you get to know each other then you can talk about work.
Have respect for anyone who is gainfully employed. = Some jobs are better than other jobs, but to work is noble. Don't yell at or give someone who works in an entry level position a hard time.
True happiness must first start within yourself. When you are first happy with yourself then everything else in life is usually pretty wonderful.
Let it go = We all have had experiences in life where we did the wrong thing. We have all known people in life that have done us wrong. Don't dwell on those experiences or people as you can not relive those moments. Let them go, learn from them, and know that the wisdom you now possess won't allow it won't happen again.
Having cash, wealth, or personal items does not mean you will be happy = Cash can expose you to situations that can create happy stuff, but it does not equal happiness. The happiness part is all up to you. I have met miserable people with money and consistently ecstatically people who are always broke. For the most part, the wealthy and the poor all are exposed to the same sensations in life. Just because I don't have a swimming pool in my back yard does not mean that I don't know what it feels like to swim. Just because I don't own an expensive race car does not mean that I will never know the sensation of driving or going really fast. Lastly, sometimes having wealth just means that you have more things to worry about or more things to take care of. Sometimes you are better off having a beater car rather than expensive one that you always have to worry about being scratched in the parking lot.
Look at life as a gift = Life is a gift and everyday it gives you something new. Don't waste life. Don't waste time worrying about your possessions when, in the end, it all fades away or becomes old an meaningless. Don't waste time getting wrapped up or stressed out over the little routines of life. Don't waste time trying to impress the world. I know it's easy to let life drag you down physically and emotionally, but all of these negatives takes away from your ability to be happy and it doesn't have to be that way. It's just life, and several years from now the stuff that depresses you or drags you down today will no longer matter. Since it won't matter several years from now it shouldn't be bothering you now. Be happy, plan for tomorrow, but live for today. Spend your lifetime achieving fulfillment, love, live, help others, give, search your soul, strive to discover meaning, be happy when you can, and trust in a higher power that we may never fully understand.
On personal prosperity and growth
You will make mistakes = We all make mistakes from time to time, but life is a learning process and it's OK to make mistakes. Nobody is perfect. Learn from your mistakes so you may make a better choice the next time.
Always try to do - the right thing to do.
If it relates to your life you must learn everything about it. = This can also be reworded to say I should learn how to repair or build items myself rather than pay someone to do it for me. An example would be that I drive a car, their for I should learn how to repair it or at least maintain it. If my house needs rewiring then I should learn how to do it myself and make it happen rather than pay someone to perform that task. If my computer dies I should fix it. If I wish to build some metal thing then I should take the money that I would normally pay someone to make the thing and buy a welder so I can make it myself. By following this philosophy, you will learn about so many things and, some day, when you need to perform that task again you will not only have the knowledge, skills, and abilities to do it, but you will also have the tools to make it happen.
Have a lot of hobbies = Lots of hobbies gives you lots of great experiences in life. It also keeps you busy when you get to be an old person.
Goals = Plan for the future, but live for today. Always have a goal and work towards it. After you achieve that goal then set another one. If you can't quite make it to that goal, no worries, it's OK. Just take a look behind you to see how far you progressed from your original position. So with that in mind set your sights so high that the lower positions look better.
Life promises you nothing = As we go through life, there are no guarantees and no promises. It's just life. Expect life to throw stuff at you from time to time that you did not plan for or that you may not like. At those moments try to look at things objectively, count your blessings, and figure out the best way to rectify what you perceive as being a screwed up position. Even the worst situations can be just temporary as long as have a plan in action.
Keep your debts to a minimum = If you have no debts then you can handle anything that life throws at you. You can be broke and always find a way to get by. If you are broke and in debt then you are really in a bad situation if life throws a wrench in your plans.
Count your Blessings = It's easy to get caught up in the idea of needing to live the MTV type of lifestyle and forget how good you have it. What most people don't realize is that the majority of the world doesn't even have a TV, let alone MTV.
You get what you pay for = Even though Camero's aren't as fast as a Ferarri, they are a heck of a lot cheaper.
You can have anything you want in life, but you can't have everything. = If you work for something hard enough you should eventually get it. Still, sacrifices have to be made along the way so you can't have everything that's out there.
When striving for a goal, at some point or another in your life, you may have someone tell you that you don't have the skills to reach that goal. Don't listen to them and don't stop striving for that goal. Most of the time you are able to do most anything in life, it's just a matter of how bad do you want to make your goal a reality. If you dig deep inside of yourself you can do some pretty amazing things.
You are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. = A person has a tendency to adapt the characteristics of their friends, family, co-workers, and basically the people that you spend all of your time with. If these people all think along the same lines then you are not exposing yourself to other ideas. Likewise if the people you spend time with are not an overly motivated lot then you likewise will not have much motivation for more. Maybe you are trying to perform a specific task or evaluate a situation and without new or fresh ideas you will be stuck doing the same old thing you always do. Try to get new ideas and perspectives from outside of your common circle or else you will be severely limiting yourself. Blend these new ideas with what you currently know and you will most likely find an easier or better way to approach a issue or topic.
Do what you can and fake the rest. = This belief will take you far in life.
That's about it for the moment.