the rules for being human

just yesterday, i was reading my outdoor leadership theory and practice textbook for one of my classes and came across the rules for being human (by cherie carter scott).  i had never seen or heard of these rules before and when i was reading them, many of them hit home for me.  sometimes i feel like my life is out of control.  i'm not where i want to be in life, i'm not the best i can be, and i'm not always happy.  but, after reading these, i felt a little better about everything.  and that moment, that little bit of inspiration in the middle of my studying, made me smile.  its funny where inspiration can come from sometimes. 

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. every 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 it is learned. a lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. when you have learned it, you can the go on to the next lesson.
5. learning lessons does not end. there is no part of life that does no 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 “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 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 always yours.
9. your answers lie inside you. the answers to life’s questions lie inside. all you need to do is look, listen and trust.
10. you will forget all of this!