There are rules to happiness in life:
I am not talking about like in a zombie movie, because we all know that particular list is make-believe. I am talking about the real world, and in the real world there are rules to the game. I hate that life is a game, but regardless of whether you like it or not, you either play or be played, so if you want to be successful you’d better learn to play.
Rule #1: There is an old saying: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Unfortunately this one hits the nail on the proverbial head. In this crazy mixed-up world, your enemies are often more important than your friends. They drive you to succeed, if only to show them up, and they require a certain concentration that friends do not. You’d better make sure that you know who all you’ve angered, that way when you have to call the police to report the vandalism from the night before you have a solid list of anyone it might have been. So, therefore, rule #1 is to never have more enemies than you can personally keep track of. This is an important one. If you have more enemies than people you personally know, you will have a very hard time getting ahead in this life. What does this really mean? Don't have enemies, if you can help it. Make friends. Find joy. Do good things. Sometimes you can't help it, because some people were born to hate, and in that situation see above.
Rule #2: It is impossible to know who you are, for so many reasons, but mainly because with every thought you have, and every second that passes you are a different person. Each experience, whether mundane or profound, changes us, and by the time we process the change, we have already changed again. You should not be discouraged by this, though, because we CAN know who we were, and just knowing that affects who we want to be. You will never know who you were if you stop looking for who you are, so rule #2 is to never stop soul-searching. The moment you become convinced you are sure who you are is the moment you stop growing, and if you stop growing you might as well just give up on life. No change means no growth, and no growth means no life.
Rule #3: Before you, or I, or our parents were born, before even our grandparents time, or theirs, scholars were convinced that the world was flat. When I was a baby, people knew that babies were to be layed out on their stomachs to sleep, and when my son was born I knew that my little family was above all of the problems that plague others. The problem is, of course, that of all the things I mentioned, not one hasn’t been discovered to be wrong. This is true of all things. The things that we “know” today may well be things of the past tomorrow. Rule #3 is to never stop asking questions: question everything and everyone. I am not saying to be cynical, I am saying to let a love of acquiring knowledge grow inside of you until you are as curious as a child again. Don’t ever settle for an answer, always ask “why”, “how”, “when”, and “where”. You may discover that the world is not so black and white as it seems. Search for your own answers, your own truths, and you will find, in turn, that sometimes answers come from the most unlikely sources.
Rule #4 is love: I don’t mean pink hearts and red roses kind of love, I mean find the things you love. Notice I did not say find someone to love, or find people to love. I literally mean to find the “things” that you can love about yourself, or for yourself, because when you find things to love it keeps your life balanced and happy, and in turn allows you to love yourself . Once you love yourself, you are then open to love someone else. You cannot love anything else if you don’t love yourself first. Your happiness depends on this rule, so it is important.
I will add more as they occur to me, but for now.... keep these in mind. Who knows... maybe I just gave you a little insight. Think on it.
I am not talking about like in a zombie movie, because we all know that particular list is make-believe. I am talking about the real world, and in the real world there are rules to the game. I hate that life is a game, but regardless of whether you like it or not, you either play or be played, so if you want to be successful you’d better learn to play.
Rule #1: There is an old saying: Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Unfortunately this one hits the nail on the proverbial head. In this crazy mixed-up world, your enemies are often more important than your friends. They drive you to succeed, if only to show them up, and they require a certain concentration that friends do not. You’d better make sure that you know who all you’ve angered, that way when you have to call the police to report the vandalism from the night before you have a solid list of anyone it might have been. So, therefore, rule #1 is to never have more enemies than you can personally keep track of. This is an important one. If you have more enemies than people you personally know, you will have a very hard time getting ahead in this life. What does this really mean? Don't have enemies, if you can help it. Make friends. Find joy. Do good things. Sometimes you can't help it, because some people were born to hate, and in that situation see above.
Rule #2: It is impossible to know who you are, for so many reasons, but mainly because with every thought you have, and every second that passes you are a different person. Each experience, whether mundane or profound, changes us, and by the time we process the change, we have already changed again. You should not be discouraged by this, though, because we CAN know who we were, and just knowing that affects who we want to be. You will never know who you were if you stop looking for who you are, so rule #2 is to never stop soul-searching. The moment you become convinced you are sure who you are is the moment you stop growing, and if you stop growing you might as well just give up on life. No change means no growth, and no growth means no life.
Rule #3: Before you, or I, or our parents were born, before even our grandparents time, or theirs, scholars were convinced that the world was flat. When I was a baby, people knew that babies were to be layed out on their stomachs to sleep, and when my son was born I knew that my little family was above all of the problems that plague others. The problem is, of course, that of all the things I mentioned, not one hasn’t been discovered to be wrong. This is true of all things. The things that we “know” today may well be things of the past tomorrow. Rule #3 is to never stop asking questions: question everything and everyone. I am not saying to be cynical, I am saying to let a love of acquiring knowledge grow inside of you until you are as curious as a child again. Don’t ever settle for an answer, always ask “why”, “how”, “when”, and “where”. You may discover that the world is not so black and white as it seems. Search for your own answers, your own truths, and you will find, in turn, that sometimes answers come from the most unlikely sources.
Rule #4 is love: I don’t mean pink hearts and red roses kind of love, I mean find the things you love. Notice I did not say find someone to love, or find people to love. I literally mean to find the “things” that you can love about yourself, or for yourself, because when you find things to love it keeps your life balanced and happy, and in turn allows you to love yourself . Once you love yourself, you are then open to love someone else. You cannot love anything else if you don’t love yourself first. Your happiness depends on this rule, so it is important.
I will add more as they occur to me, but for now.... keep these in mind. Who knows... maybe I just gave you a little insight. Think on it.