26 March 2007

Rules of Life

Not all forwarded emails are boring and spam in nature. There are some which are worth reading and sharing like this one recently sent by a good friend. It is called 21 Rules of Life, and it enumerates suggestions on how to survive daily living:

1. Marry the right person. This one decision will determine 90% of your happiness or misery.

2. Work at something you enjoy and that's worthy of your time and talent.

3. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

4. Be forgiving of yourself and others.

5. Discipline yourself to save money on even the most modest salary.

6. Understand that happiness is not based on possessions, power or prestige, but on relationship with people you love and respect.

7. Be generous.

8. Become the most positive and enthusiastic person you know.

9. Have a grateful heart.

10. Persistence, persistence, persistence, persistence, persistence, persistence, persistence.

11. Treat everyone you meet like you want to be treated.

12. Commit yourself to constant improvement.

13. Commit yourself to quality.

14. Be loyal.

15. Be honest.

16. Be a self-starter.

17. Be decisive even it it means you'll sometimes be wrong.

18. Stop blaming others. Take responsibility for every area of your life.

19. Don't do anything that wouldn't make your Mom proud.

20. Take good care of those you love.

21. Be bold and courageous. When you look back on your life, you'll regret the things you didn't do more than the ones you did.

I particularly like the first and the last rules. Having talked to old, blissfully married couples who attest that having married the right person has made them live their life with less regrets, I believe the first rule is so true. I also know many married friends who are burdened with so many problems because they are not happy with their marriage.

The last rule strikes a chord too, because I've talked to a few people on their deathbeds, and most of them express regrets on not being able to travel and see the world (even if they had the time and money), not being able to say and express how much they loved someone, and generally not being able to run the extra mile in their lives.

The essence of life is living. My favorite Kafka quote says that the meaning of life is that it ends, and it's true. Because life is limited, we must decide and find where our personal happiness is before it is too late.

9 reactions:

Anonymous said...

well, I don`t know how i got here. I just found your blog really interesting and wanted you to know..
* keep on writing.
im from argentina, sorry if my english sucks a bit..

Anonymous said...

I strongly believe in 1, 6, 7 and 9.

Dr. Emer said...

mane-presionaqui: Gracias por la visita. Espero que usted se vuelva para leer más de mis entradas.

Ipanema: Yes, those are good, too.

Anonymous said...

what? not travel even if they have the time and money to do it? why?

anyway, rule #1 rocks, and i agree!

may
www.aboutanurse.com

jey-aiy said...

if all of us would live by these rules, there will be more reasons for us to be bright and shiny =)

batjay said...

bakit walang "have lots of sex".

ok ang list mo doc - marami akong pinapraktis diyan sa trabaho. parati kong sinasabi sa mga tao ko na "be decisive" lalo na sa mga emergency situations. you may be wrong but at least you did something.

Anonymous said...

I believe in # 1, 4, 5, 12, and 13. Too bad I didn't practice # 19. It would have saved me a lot of heartache.

Jean said...

Il est rare de trouver de pareilles propositions sur un blog :merci !
Je suis comme vous un idéaliste bien étranger dans le monde actuel !

: Joseph j7uy5 said...

I'd add a corollary to #2. Almost as important as the work you do, is the people with whom you do it. If you have teamwork in the workplace, it makes all the difference.