THE RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

Like a lot of people my age, I find myself spending an inordinate amount of time going through papers, photos, mementos and keepsakes with the intent on thinning out what seems like a massive amount of "stuff".  This is stuff no one wants.  It means something to me and my wife, but most of it has no or little significance to our kids and certainly anyone else.  I distinctly remember going through my parents "stuff" after they passed away and it was no fun.  The vast majority of the "stuff" was tossed.  Like my "stuff" their "stuff" meant nothing to me.  So it was deposited into the ash bin of history.  

But here's something that happens when one engages in this process.  It's easy to get distracted.  You open an old box or file and an hour later you're still sitting there reading.  Sometimes with a smile, sometimes with a frown, sometimes with an amount of amazement, but always with interest.  So it was that I spent some hours today going through an old file of material I had spirited away going back decades.  They were old speeches, inspirational sayings, deep thoughts, quotes by those I admired, and some miscellaneous "stuff".  I distinctly remember using this file sometimes when I needed a reference for a speech or if writing something, but I hadn't looked at in many years.  Hence the hours I spent remembering those more active days in my life.  And while reading I came across a sheet entitled "The Rules For Being Human".  I think I discovered these rules when I was about 26 or 27.  I remember being stuck by their simplicity and wisdom and I referenced them many times over the years.  But like I said, I haven't referred to them in many years.  So it's time for a reprise.  And I think they are worth it.  

The Rules for Being Human

1. You will receive a body.  You might like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.  Take care of it.
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.  But they will be lessons.  It's to your advantage to pay attention.
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.  Growth is a process of trial and error called experimentation.  The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately works.
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 will go on to the next lessons.  However, this is not always obvious.
5. Learning lessons does not end.  There is no part of life that does not contain lessons.  If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.
6. "There" is no better than "here".  When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, sometimes look better than "here".
7. Others are merely a mirror of you.  You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.
8. What you make of your life is up to you.  You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you.  The choice is yours.
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
10. You will forget all of this.