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.