The Zen Habits blog constantly gives me things that I spend thinking about seriously. A recent post by a guest blogger was one that provided active fertilizer for my brain. It was called 12 Rules to Live By. These rules formed the writer’s personal philosophy of how to live. He was not thrusting them on everyone but encouraging us to develop our own 12 rules.

I simply loved the post and thought, why not?  It’s not important just to think about rules for myself but to write them down.  I found out that it’s not that easy to do.  But, whoever said that anything worth doing was easy?

When you write something like this down, you are forced to think harder because you are, in effect, making a serious commitment (which turned out to be one of my rules, by the way). Plus writing them down for everyone to see takes them to another level altogether. You’ll call me on any that I break, right? Right. That’s what I thought.

In an ideal world with an ideal me, here are my 12 rules – the 12 rules to live by.  Are you asking me today whether I follow all these rules all the time? The answer is no.  

Therefore, I’d like to make this about the 12 rules that I aspire to live by:

1. Live in the moment. Forget regrets, learn from the past and don’t fear the future. Be aware of what’s around me. Always. Be mindfully aware of the beauty of life.
2. Smile more often. Let anger and a bad mood take a rest. They sap my energy and are not worth the time of day. Bring myself back to all that is wonderful around and within. Stop and understand that without darkness, I would not recognize light. The yin and the yang. 🙂
3. Make some “me-time” every day, even if it’s just for five minutes. Make it a time to contemplate, to dream big or just a way to rest my brain.
4. Don’t hurt anyone, not even unintentionally. Think before I talk, before I act, before I react. Try putting myself in their shoes first.
5. Become a daily practictioner of humility and honesty so that I become an expert at both.
6. Be about giving, not receiving. Make my interactions be kind, compassionate, concerned and forgiving.
7. Fulfill my obligations. Fulfill others’ expectations (or change them). Never make a commitment I don’t intend to, or am unable to keep.
8. Get physical. Care for my body, care for my health. Yoga anyone?
9. Write. Every single day. Likewise, read something worthwhile every day. (Okay, that’s 2).
10. Have a strong work ethic. Work is not stress. Work is fulfilling and worth doing, and if it’s not, only I have the power to change it!
11. Cherish my dear friends and relationships. They’re what make my world go around. Don’t just think about them. Stay in touch!
12. Set aside some time every day for nothing, nothing, nothing but family.

So, what are your rules?