The Two Best Rules for Navigating Life

In a world of free will, it seems to me that the original intent of “religion” was to establish rules for operating in an environment where everything is possible, yet not everything is desirable, especially if it impinged upon another’s free will.

I see the two most important rules as: 1) treat everyone else as you would want them to treat you, and 2) what goes around comes around.

Rule one is obvious, but rule two creates the ramifications of all choices and actions we make in that what we say or do to another we bring upon ourselves “¦ who we are attracts more just like us.

For instance, those who steal often encounter those who steal from them. Cheaters are cheated upon. Fearful people attract situations that cause fear. Unloving people encounter unloving people.

So the real question is, “Do you like the life you have created for yourself?”

If not, you can change it, but the change can only come from within you. You must look at yourself to discover the beliefs, attitudes, expectations and actions that resonate with the undesirable results you are getting.

For example, someone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired probably spends a lot of time focusing on and talking about all their health problems. Wellness can never be found by focusing on illness; wellness is found by eating healthy food, doing healthy activities and exploring those activities that lead to better health. Observe the habits of healthy people, not the unhealthy ones.

Here are a few tips to help you make those changes:

  1. When you catch yourself thinking thoughts that cause distress in your body, ask yourself, “If not that, what do I want?” For instance, if your job causes distress, what job would you rather have? But if you have decided that there is no other choice for you, you are right. Your closed mind blocks all other choices from appearing.
  2. How you say what you want makes all the difference in the world. There is a big difference between saying, “I don’t want to be sick anymore” and saying, “I want to be healthier.” The former states what you do not want; the latter states what you do want. The more you can discern the difference between the two, the closer you will get to the outcomes you want.
  3. Make a list of activities that move you toward your goal. For instance, if your goal is to be healthier, what foods do you need to get rid off and what foods do you need to add? Or what activities can you do that will help your body to be stronger, more limber or thinner? Or, which people do you need to avoid who sabotage your efforts?

I remember when I first made the decision to be healthier back in 1981, and my first step was to stop eating the larger Hersey’s milk chocolate bars with almonds and to quit smoking. So the man in my life at that time bought me a case of the chocolate bars and a case of cigarettes. HE was sabotaging my desire to get healthier and since he refused to support me, I had no choice but to end the relationship if I wanted to become healthier.

We ourselves are the only ones who can change the results we are getting in life, and we do it by changing the thoughts we think, the words we speak, the choices we make and our actions.

We don’t have to worry about changing those in our circle of connections who are not living as we would like to live, for that’s not our job. Our job is to clean up our own act “¦ to resonate with the life we want to live and to make choices that support that life.

If we hold steady to that, the people and things in our life that do not support us in the life we want will fall away as we make better choices about what is right for us.

It is not our job to change others; it’s our job to become the best person we can become.
The best we can do is to live our lives in a way that honors the two rules listed above and to live as an example to others, for we can never force another to change. But we can influence them by our example of living in greater harmony, creativity and joy.

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