Kelly stumbled on to some words to live by the other day, and I think they’re worth sharing. Both poignant and even humourous, these Ten Rules for Being Human are good ones.
See also: 12 Life Lessons Learned From 12 Years of Travel
This post was originally published in 2010. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.
10 Rules for Being Human
Written by Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott in Life is a Game, These Are The Rules
1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it’s yours to keep for the entire period.
2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, “life.”
See also: 12 Lessons Learned from 12 Years of Full-Time Travel
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately “work.”
4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.
5. Learning lessons does not end. There’s no part of life that doesn’t contain its lessons. If you’re alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.
6. “There” is no better a place than “here.” When your “there” has become a “here”, you will simply obtain another “there” that will again look better than “here.”
7. Other people 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.
I learned this in spades in Peru, whilst apprenticing with a shaman. (yeah, I did that)
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 within you. The answers to life’s questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.
10. You will forget all this.
Beautifully put. Especially number 10 🙂
@Richard – #10 is my favourite too! Cheers.
Awesome set of guidelines for being human. We are always students and should learn from just about everything we do.
@Mark – I believe some of our greatest challenges in life come when we stop learning. In fact, I’m not even sure it’s possible to stop learning! It is possible, though, to stop trying to learn…
Too funny! I “discovered” this set of rules at least 20 years ago. It was called “Life’s Handbook” and had an end note that read something like, “these rules come with every new birth, they were printed on your placenta but unfortunately were thrown out in the delivery room. What goes around comes around!
@John – Ha ha – I love the placenta note! Too true…I wonder how much we “forget” as we get entrenched in life and society…..I know that we forget how to laugh as we age: children laugh something like 400 times a day….adults: 7 times a day.
A list worth reading! Little worried that #4 and 10 are the ones I jive with the most. But at least I’m laughing as I write this (well, I have a wry smile on my face, which must count for something…)
@Nick – Love it! I personally find #4 to be a pesky thorn in my side. Sometimes I don’t even know what the lessons are (I think if I knew, then the lesson would be learned and I could move on!), so I see them being presented over and over again.
wow… #6… is that true or what. I guess in a way i’m a propetual traveler so put it, so it’s good to remember to slow down and enjoy where u are, at that moment… it’s easy to forget. Those are some good rules. oh it’s also good to remember that there are others like me too!!
Hey Steph – I got quite involved with #6 while in New Zealand, trying to learn the art of meditation:
https://www.theprofessionalhobo.com/sister-shalom-and-the-art-of-meditation/
And yes, even as perpetual travelers we can be “here”. 🙂