If Life is a Game, These are the Rules - A Book Summary
This article is based on the following book: If Life is a Game,
These are the Rules "Ten rules for Being Human" By Cherie
Carter-Scott, PhD Published by Broadway Book, New York, 1998
ISBN: 0767902386 139 Pages
This #1 New York Times bestseller offers some useful and
understandable advice that can be applied to many situations.
The idea of life as a series of lessons can help to put things
into perspective and add to anyone's ability to deal with
setbacks and reach their full potential.
Rule one - You will receive a body Acceptance or rejection of
your body only carries weight in your own mind, and your
perception has no bearing on how your body actually looks, so
why not choose the ease of acceptance rather than the pain of
rejection? The choice is yours.
Rule two - You will be presented with lessons. Each day in the
school of life you will be presented with all the lessons that
you specifically need to learn, whether you choose to learn them
or not is entirely up to you. See these lessons as gifts, or
guides along your path toward living as your authentic self.
Rule three - There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a
process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors,
victories and setbacks. The failed experiments are as much a
part of the process as the experiments that work. Without
lessons, it is difficult to convert mistakes into valuable
learning opportunities.
Rule four - A lesson is repeated until learned Lessons will be
repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them.
When you have learned them, you can then go on to the next
lesson.
Rule five - Learning does not end
Your journey on earth is constantly unfolding, and while your
wisdom grows and your capacity to deal with challenges expands,
new lessons will present themselves. Lessons will be around as
long as you live.
Rule six - There is no better than here This rule encourages you
to live fully in the present. When your 'there' has become a
'here', you will simply obtain a there that will look better to
you than your present here. Live in the 'here and now'. Avoid
the continuous cycle of longing.
Rule seven - Others are only mirrors of you You cannot love or
hate something about another person unless it reflects something
you love or hate about yourself. See the qualities that you
admire in others as characteristics that you have already
embraced in yourself, allow them to illuminate more clearly your
own feelings of self-worth.
Rule eight - 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.
Rule nine - Your answers lie inside of you
All you need to do is look, listen and trust. Many answers to
life's problems are available by trusting your intuition and
listening to the 'little voices' in your head.
Rule ten - You will forget all of this at birth Create ways to
find your way back to your truth when you forget. Surround
yourself with people who know your personal truth and are
familiar with your authentic self. They can help keep you
rooted.
Key thoughts:
"Be more concerned with your character than your reputation,
because characte is what you really are, while your reputation
is merely what others think you are." -John Wooden, college
basketball coach
"Although they only give gold medals in the field of athletics,
I encourage everyone to look into themselves and find their own
personal dream, whatever that may be - sports, medicine, law,
business, music, writing, whatever. The same principles apply.
Turn your dream into a goal and learn how to attack that goal
systematically. Break it into bite-size chunks that seem
possible, and then don't give up. Just keep plugging away." -
John Naber, swimmer, four-time Olympic Gold Medalist