“Only when we are no longer afraid, do we begin to live” by Dorothy Thompson
I came across a great article this weekend that I knew I was meant to read. (I’m sure you know that feeling.) It expressed everything that I felt to be true in my heart about life. It was simple yet concise, and I instantly knew I needed to share it with you. Fingers crossed you find it as illuminating and reassuring as I did.
Enjoy, and let me know what you think. Rule number nine is my favourite. What’s yours?
11 rules for being a human being:
Rule 1: You will receive a body;
Rule 2: You will learn lessons:
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant or stupid.
Rule 3: There are no mistakes, only lessons:
Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works”.
Rule 4: A lesson is repeated until learned:
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.
Rule 5: Learning lessons does not end:
There is no part of Life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
Rule 6: “There” is no better than “here”
When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here”.
Rule 7: Others are merely mirrors of you:
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.
Rule 8: What you make of your life is up to you:
You have the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.
Rule 9: Your answers lie inside you:
The answers to life’s questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.
Rule 10: You will forget all this:
Rule 11: You can remember whenever you want.
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Hiya
Wonderful article!
Life affirming and a good nudge in the direction of ‘man/woman know theyself’.
I think these are 11 guiding points for life that can be included in school education. Or education for any age group.
1, 3, 6, 8 really leaped out at me and are cause for reflection. 9 is the greatest of them all, in my opinion.
thanks
Jens
Excellent! I had seen this years ago, and true to Rule 10, I totally forgot. Time to put it on my fridge.
Rule 6 is the most profound, IMHO.
Thanks Jen and David.
Have to agree with you David about rules 6. Its also a little tricky to live in the present moment all the time. Work in progress I say.
Peace, love and chocolate
Carole
I like #9 as well! It so true all you have to do is take a moment and listen to that voice and you will always know what to do.
Also I like the #s 4 & 5. I hate that the lessons don’t end and I am grateful when I can move on to the next one and not have to repeat!!
MelindaWarren
Thanks for sharing this with us Carole. Handy list to print out and keep!
Bless
These are great reminders – I’m definitely resonating with #8 right now. Knowing that you are already perfectly equipped in life is a very comforting reassurance 🙂
Great Reminders, how often I forget, or allow my ego to take over
Love and hugs
Suzie
great list of rules to remember to enhance your life.
Hi Carole thanks so much for this entry and all of your entries it helps me keep rejuvenated and ready to give to others. I thought you might like the movie The Great Mother. It’s a documentary about the Dalai Lama’s mother, and it’s super good and well done, and is about motherhood in general as well. It was great to hear such an amazing spiritual and political leader so humbled when talking about the nature of the mother, he says that mother is the first teacher, of kindness, compassion, foregiveness, do’s + don’ts and how to be with each other, and in this way mother is before religion. I thought it was nice to see him give mama her due, and thought you might want to blog about the movie.
Thank you so much for letting me know about this and for connecting me to your blog.