Rules to Live By


By Bruce Shawkey


Ran across this interesting booklet, 30 Rules to Live By, a freebie on Amazon, apparently by no one in particular. Probably generated by AI. Anyway, many of the "rules" dovetail nicely with my philosophies of the "Sweet Life" (title of one of my books), and here are some of them. My comments are in italics.

Happiness, what it is and what it is not. Gotta be happy, or it's not a very sweet life. Pretty much everything flows from being happy.

Wealth, how to understand it and change your relationship with it. Wealth is not necessarily about money or possessions. 

Courage, how to find the strength to live a courageous life, not to be confused with confidence. Courage begets confidence, but not the other way around.

Learn to think. Too many people don't. Dovetails nicely with my "10 percent" rule, i.e. that roughly only 10 percent of people walking the earth actually "get it," in that they possess at least some degree of common sense, of where they are going with their lives, exude confidence without arrogance, and treat others as they would want to be treated.

Focus on things we can control. So much is out of our control, yet we expend our energy worrying and fretting.

We create our own misery. Drama queens and kings. Nobody likes listening to them.

Worrying unnecessarily. Wasted energy in my opinion. Most of the time, our worries never come true.

Face adversities and uncertainty. Obstacles are inevitable. There is very little that can't be overcome.

Knowing who we are and what we stand for. "Know thyself." The ancient Greeks said it best.

Resilience. The tree that can bend survives, while the oak breaks.

Others' opinions. Thinking about other peoples' judgments is a choice.

Kindness towards others. Golden Rule. Enough said.

Not relying on luck. There is no such thing.

Humility. It is a modest or low view of one's own importance. You don't know every goddamn thing. Stop pretending that you do.

Be Forgiving. Bearing a grudge is wasted energy.

Be grateful. Spend some time each day practicing gratitude. 

Learn to deal with change. Nothing stays the same. Learn to roll with the punches.

Value time. You never know much of it you have.

Live a life of virtue. How do you want to be remembered? Did you leave the earth in a little better shape than you found it?

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