My Seven Rules of Life
- Be true to yourself
- Don’t compare yourself to others
- Know what you can control
- Be happy
- Be a nice person
- Live on purpose
- Take care of yourself
Everyone has certain “rules” they attempt to live by. Those rules vary from person to person. I have narrowed my rules down to seven.
Rule #1: Be true to yourself.
In your daily life do you believe in everything you are doing? Do you truly believe in what you do for a living? When you interact with family and friends are you being who you actually are as a person, in your soul? Many people don’t myself included. I have lost ME many times in my life. We first need to know who we are and what we are about at the core. Once we discover and own that, then and only then can you be true to yourself in your thoughts and actions throughout daily life. Once we all discover and master that, we can live life the way we want to and were meant to when we were put on this earth by our creator,
Rule #2: Don’t compare yourself to others.
This is a tough one. As I write this I am on a plane. I just saw a gentleman in the airport who was in extremely good shape. I immediately thought, wow I could look like that if I really applied myself yet at the same time I felt inferior to him. He carried himself very humble and I am sure is a very nice guy. But is he necessarily better than I am because of his look? No he is not and that is my error in thinking. You are the one and only you, put on this earth to be nobody but you. We need to compare ourselves to nobody but the person in the mirror. If you don’t like what you see change it, but change it for you not to be like someone or better than someone else.
Rule #3: Know what you can control.
There are so many things in this life that are completely out of our control. We always seem to be able to figure out the things we can control such as our daily responsibilities, our habits, our morals. But what if something comes flying in to your life that you can’t control? Disease, death, natural disaster, job layoffs, car trouble and the list goes on. If you really think about it, there are more things in life beyond our control than what we can control. The trick is to know which is which and don’t worry about what you cannot control. You may have to “own” it or deal with it in some fashion but worrying or trying to control it is a waste of energy. It always works out and for a reason we may not know in this lifetime. Think of anything you have ever worried about. For good, bad or other, it worked itself out the way it was intended and that is that. You couldn’t control it and it happened. It is what it is.
Rule #4: Be happy.
Sounds simple enough right? For some people, myself included being happy can be tough. Happiness is clearly a choice. We can choose to be miserable or negative whether the situations in our life are good or bad or we can choose to be happy. I’m not saying be happy because Grandma died, I’m saying grieve for the loss but be happy for the opportunity you had of her being in your life. Wayne Dyer said it best, “There is no way to happiness; happiness is the way”. We have one shot at this thing called life. Be happy.
Rule #5: Be a nice person.
Sometimes this is a hard one for us all. Someone just cut you off in traffic, or pulled out in front of you. That is enough to piss you straight off, so you give them the “one finger wave” and lay on your horn. There that will teach him! Then you pull into the church parking lot a few days later, notice a car that looks just like the one that….wait that’s the guy….Oh, I flipped him the bird. True story. We all get frustrated, we all have wrongs done to us, and we are all busy with our own lives. How long does it take to tell the waitress she is doing a great job, or to simply smile at someone walking by and say hi? You may never know what those things could mean to someone at that instant. It could mean the world to them and it costed us nothing.
Rule #6: Live on purpose.
What the hell does that mean? Live on purpose…I’m not taking involuntary steps when I walk, I’m not randomly just saying things. I am living on purpose….or am I? You get up, you get ready, get the kids ready, go to work, come home, make supper, homework, a little television, a book and to bed to start it all over again. Pretty typical life and to some degree we all live it and that is ok. Ok as long as we are not just going thru the motions and not paying attention. It is very easy to get wrapped up in the morning routine and completely ignore what your child is saying. We are too worried about not being late or the other things occupying our minds at that moment. However, if you are living in the moment, paying attention, we don’t miss these things. It’s these small things that usually end up meaning the most that we miss because we are just going with the flow. We need to live on purpose, stop and smell the flowers so to speak. Complete the mundane tasks as we should but do it with your eyes and ears wide open and with the mindset that there is a purpose to everything I do in my boring everyday life. When we do that, the boring mundane everyday life isn’t so boring anymore.
Rule #7: Take care of yourself.
There is nothing more important to a good life than to take care of yourself. Yes we need to take care of those around us as well like our wife and kids. But what good are you to them if you haven’t taken care of yourself both physically and mentally? I sat down in my seat on this plane, and the flight attendant starting going through the emergency exits, flotation devices and everything else. Anyone who has flown knows what they say about the oxygen masks. Should they become necessary and drop down, secure your own mask before assisting others with theirs. You won’t be much help putting a mask on your child if you’re passed out. The same holds true every single day. Physically take care of yourself with proper nutrition, rest, and exercise. We have one body and good gosh can we abuse it. Don’t wait until something forces you to make a change. Not to say it will be too late, because it is never too late. I feel it creates the thought of, “if I would have done the right things in the past, this wouldn’t be happening now”, and then you have a certain amount of regret or frustration. Do it now before something forces you to do it or worse yet you can’t or don’t have time to do it.
Let’s not forget we also need to take care of ourselves mentally and spiritually. Have your alone time when you need it. Meditate, read, ride your Harley, attend church or whatever makes the “inside” you happy. When we are happy inside our soul we are at our best and our tank is full. Then we can give some of that energy to others as needed. When we do that it will come back to us just the way we gave it out.
So these are my seven rules of life. Some I have figured out, some are going to be a whole new venture and challenge for me. Find your rules in life and put them on paper. Be accountable to them and do whatever it takes to live by them. You will find your rules will change depending where you are in your journey. I know where I am now, I know where I have been and right now these are the rule that make up me. They will change in the future as I grow I am sure. I will make new rules, and keep the old ones as well. The important thing is I will have something to be accountable for and build meaning. The idea in life is to leave your mark however large or small. What legacy will you leave following your rules?