The Rules for Being Human

I found The Rules for Being Human crumpled in the corner of an envelope full of papers I brought back with me from my travels in Asia. While a google search came up with a number of other sites which purport to have the "true" rules, I noted that many of them were slanted towards or against some political or religious entity.

These, on the other hand, are just as I received them. Incidently, I myself did not come up with the rules. My copy is unfortunately not attributed. It would have been interesting to see who claimed to have been the first person throughout humanity to discover the rules.

The Rules for Being Human

1. YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY

You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS

You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS

Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

4. A LESSON IS REPEATED UNTIL LEARNED

A lesson will be present to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. LEARNING LESSONS DOES NOT END

There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "THERE" IS NO BETTER THAN "HERE"

When your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than "here."

7. OTHERS ARE MERELY MIRRORS OF YOU

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. WHAT YOU MAKE OF YOUR LIFE IS UP TO YOU

You have all the tools and resources you need, what you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. YOUR ANSWERS LIE INSIDE YOU

The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need do is look, listen and trust.

10. YOU WILL FORGET ALL THIS!