Ten Rules for Being Human

Introduction

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."

Helen Keller

Life has often been compared to a game. We are never told the rules, unfortunately, nor given any instructions about how to play. We simply begin at "Go" and make our way around the board, hoping we play it right. We don't exactly know the objective of playing, nor what it means to actually win.

That is what Ten Rules for Being Human is all about. These are the guidelines to playing the game we call life, but they are also much more than that. These Rules will provide you with a basic spiritual primer for what it means to be a human. They are universal truths that everyone inherently knows but has forgotten somewhere along the way. They form the foundation of how we can live a fulfilling, meaningful life.

Each Rule presents its own challenge, which in turn provides certain lessons we all need to learn. Lessons are what you learn when you come up against problems that need to be solved and issues that need to be exorcised. Every person on the planet has his or her own set of lessons to learn that are separate and unique from everyone else's, and these lessons, as you will see in Rule Four, will reappear until they are mastered.

The Ten Rules for Being Human are not magic, nor do they promise ten easy steps to serenity. They offer no quick fix for emotional or spiritual ailments, and they are not fast-track secrets to enlightenment. Their only purpose is to give you a road map to follow as you travel your path of spiritual growth.

These Rules are not the oppressive rules and regulations that tell us what we should or should not do, or think, or say. These Rules are not mandates, but rather guidelines as to how to play the game. There is nothing you absolutely must do. I hope this book will help you to become more aware of them. By learning the valuable lessons and wisdom they offer, your journey on this Earth might just be a little bit easier.

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.”

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.

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 at birth

Excerpted from If Life Is a Game, These Are the Rules by Cherie Carter-Scott. Excerpted by permission of Broadway, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.