Rules For Living

Here is a set of rules for living well and having a good life.  Violate these rules for living—and your happiness and contentment will dramatically diminish.

  • Regrets don’t come from trying and not succeeding.  Not trying your hardest to do something you dream of—is what makes you have regrets.
  • Live in your honor and integrity—or your self-esteem will be miserable.
  • Go after creating your highest goals and visions, and quit wishing and/or dreaming they will just happen on their own.
  • Say what you mean and mean what you say.
  • Aim high.
  • In the end, it’s your relationships—not your accomplishments or money—that matter the most in life and that will ultimately bring you the greatest sense of fulfillment and belonging.
  • A good life has a fair amount of fun, adventure, play, love and sex mixed in with hard work, self-discipline, routine and chores.
  • Don’t watch a lot of TV—it will never make you happy.
  • Don’t drink a lot of alcohol, eat too much or over-engage in any other addictive behavior.  It will desensitize you to your life, make you passive and fill you with regrets.
  • Don’t build up walls around yourself and continually push people away.  It will lead you to feel isolated and unhappy.
  • Do not let your fears stop you from going after what you dream of.  Feel the fear—and then go out and do it anyway.
  • Never say, “I can’t.”
  • Actively look at what you can learn from your mistakes and failures, and how you can be better next time.
  • Be your own best friend and ally.  Learn to like, love, respect and believe in yourself.
  • Pay attention to how often you are having fun.  Fun is one of the best and most effective ways out of depression and despair.
  • Every so often, create an adventure in your life, such as traveling to a new place, challenging yourself to learning something new, mastering a new skill, etc.
  • Treat other people well, or you will never be able to trust your relationships—or yourself.
  • No matter how long you’ve been married, one of the keys to happiness in a marriage is to always live as lovers, not as husband and wife.  If you violate this rule, your marriage will not feel alive, vital or terribly fulfilling.
  • Another key to a happy marriage:  always spoil each other.  Adopt the attitude “I’ll spoil you rotten.  Will you spoil me back?”  This touches at the very heart and soul of romance.
  • It is far better to trust than to not trust, even if you wind up hurt or betrayed.  Not trusting others will give you psychosclerosis—a hardening of the mind, heart and spirit.
  • Go easy on yourself.
  • There is far more magic in loving than in being loved.  Loving is the highest tonic life offers.
  • Let there be peace, hope and love.  And let it begin with you.
  • It is a far better position to be betrayed, than to be the betrayer.  Being the betrayer means you’ll have difficulty in trusting your own integrity.

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