Rules for Being Human

There have been numerous versions of this idea floating around for awhile, the original belonging to Cherie Carter-Scott. Here is my version of Rules for Being Human:

• You get a body. You may like it or hate it. In fact, you will probably hate at least some of it some of the time. Get over it; your body belongs to you for your entire life. Treat it well.
• There is no separating your mind from your body. Your body and your mind work in synchrony and are wise beyond your wildest dreams. You have intelligence in every cell. Get to know and listen to the wisdom of your mind/body.
• You get a biological mother and father. Some biological mothers and fathers become our parents and some don’t. You get an inherited set of genes from your biological mother and father and rules for life and relationships from your parents.
• You tend to take on the characteristics of one parent and marry the other. This concept can be wonderful and/or terrifying, but how else can it be? It is crucial to learn who we attract in life and why.
• Everybody has heartache, trauma, and turmoil in their lives (sometimes you think yours is the worst). As long as we are breathing, we are more functional than non-functional. Your personal traumas in life’s journey do not have to define you from here forward.
• You are enrolled in a full time school – The University of Life. You will have an opportunity to learn lessons whether you “show up for class” or not. You may like the lessons or think they are boring and stupid.
• We learn and grow through trial and error. The “mistakes” we make are as much a part of the lesson plan as when we “get it right”.
• A lesson is repeated until we learn it. You get recurring opportunities to learn the same lesson time and again in various themes and forms. Sometimes we think we learn a lesson, only to realize later that we need some continuing education of the subject.
• The opportunity to learn lessons does not end. There is no aspect of life that is not part of the lesson plan.
• Wherever you go, there you are. “There” is no better than “here”. You cannot avoid lessons you need to learn.
• Others are merely a reflection of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.
• Your ego will work hard to keep most of this information unconscious; Yet…
• What you make of your life is up to you. The choice is yours. You have all you need within and you know more than you know you know. All you have to do is look, listen and trust.
• Be persistent, keep your feet moving, pick yourself up and dust yourself off.