Ten Basic Rules For Better Living by Manly P. Hall

[Peregrinator]

1. Stop worrying.

The popular idea that a worrier is a thoughtful and conscientious citizen is false. The Egyptians realized this when they included worry among the cardinal sins. Do not confuse thoughtfulness and worry. The thoughtful person plans solutions, but the worrier merely dissolves in his own doubt. If you think straight, you will have less cause for worrying. The worrier not only suffers the same disaster many times, but undermines his health and annoys all others with whom he comes into contact. There are many things in this world that require thoughtful consideration, but there is really nothing to fear but fear.


Source: http://gnosticwarrior.com/ten-basic-rules-for-better-living.html

 

[Peregrinator]

2. Stop trying to dominate and possess your friends and relatives.
Each of us likes to feel that he is running his own life. The moment we recognize the rights of others to seek life, liberty, and happiness according to their own dreams, hopes, and aspirations, we begin to conserve our own resources. It is very debilitating to give advice which is ignored or rejected, and equally disappointing to attempt to posses and dominate persons who immediately resent and combat our dictatorial tendencies. We are hurt when they do not see things our way. If we save advice for ourselves and those who seek it from us, and who are therefore grateful, all concerned will be the better.

 

[Peregrinator]

3. Moderate ambition
There is a tendency to overlook natural and simple blessings while we plunge on toward distant goals. Each individual has certain capacities. If he can recognize his own abilities and work with them, he can attain personal security. If, however, he is constantly seeking that which is not reasonably attainable, he can never know happiness or contentment. The wise man observes the disastrous results of uncontrollable ambitions, and chooses moderation. It is not necessary to be famous in order to be happy, nor must one be the leading citizen in the community in order to gratify ones social instinct. The ambitious usually pay too much for what they get, and are the more miserable after they get it.

 

[Peregrinator]

4. Do not accumulate more than you need.
There is no real distinction in being the richest man in the graveyard. Many earnest citizens act as though there were pockets in shrouds. We are supposed to have outgrown the primitive belief that we should bury a mans goods with him so that his spirit might enjoy them in the afterworld. Here, again, the middle course is the wisest. Let us reserve some of our energy for enjoyment, and not give all of ourselves to the task of accumulation. Many a man who has made a million has not lived to spend it. A rich life can be more practical than a monumental bank account.

 

[Peregrinator]

5. Learn to relax.
Great tension is an abomination. The more tense we become, the more stupidly we are likely to act, and, according to the old Buddhists, stupidity is a cardinal sin. Today, many so-called efficient people are perpetually on the verge of a nervous breakdown. This is not so likely to be due to overwork as to unreasonable driving impulses from within themselves. Some say that they are overtaxing their resources to keep their jobs or to maintain extravagant families. Whether you believe it or not, you are a better producer and a better provider if you do not collapse from psychic exhaustion at some critical moment when you are most in need of good health. If your associates do not realize this, they may be in need of practical counsel.

 

[Peregrinator]

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[Peregrinator]

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[Peregrinator]

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[Peregrinator]

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[Peregrinator]

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[Peregrinator]

Pick one. Agree, disagree? Applies to you? Irrelevant?

 

[Phelia]

1. Stop worrying.

The popular idea that a worrier is a thoughtful and conscientious citizen is false. The Egyptians realized this when they included worry among the cardinal sins. Do not confuse thoughtfulness and worry. The thoughtful person plans solutions, but the worrier merely dissolves in his own doubt. If you think straight, you will have less cause for worrying. The worrier not only suffers the same disaster many times, but undermines his health and annoys all others with whom he comes into contact. There are many things in this world that require thoughtful consideration, but there is really nothing to fear but fear.


Source: http://gnosticwarrior.com/ten-basic-rules-for-better-living.html

I think I'm pretty solid on most of those. #10 is probably the most difficult for me - I have a tendency to make excuses, but I'm getting better with age. I would add: 11) Don't allow things you can't control in others to impact you 12) Don't try to change yourself to accommodate what's wrong with the world.

I see #1 in a lot of my peers. My best and most beloved friend is a chronic worrier and reads too much into everything - it drives me nuts. Today she texts me that her boss replied to one of her emails with a "Sure. Thank you." so she's convinced it's curt and she's about to be fired. Bitch! You asked her a yes or no question! How the fuck else was she supposed to respond?

 

[Peregrinator]

I think I'm pretty solid on most of those. #10 is probably the most difficult for me - I have a tendency to make excuses, but I'm getting better with age. I would add: 11) Don't allow things you can't control in others to impact you 12) Don't try to change yourself to accommodate what's wrong with the world.

I see #1 in a lot of my peers. My best and most beloved friend is a chronic worrier and reads too much into everything - it drives me nuts. Today she texts me that her boss replied to one of her emails with a "Sure. Thank you." so she's convinced it's curt and she's about to be fired. Bitch! You asked her a yes or no question! How the fuck else was she supposed to respond?

I generally do okay as well. I slip occasionally, and I tend to accumulate stuff, but then I get rid of stuff, so I think it balances out okay. I like your 11 and 12 a lot. We've discussed 11 before, my frequent iteration that the only thing anyone can control is their own behavior. 12 is a tough one to carry, I think. By some interpretations, it would mean not learning. The anti-tao. But I think I know what you mean, something more like not acquiescing.

 

[Phelia]

I generally do okay as well. I slip occasionally, and I tend to accumulate stuff, but then I get rid of stuff, so I think it balances out okay. I like your 11 and 12 a lot. We've discussed 11 before, my frequent iteration that the only thing anyone can control is their own behavior. 12 is a tough one to carry, I think. By some interpretations, it would mean not learning. The anti-tao. But I think I know what you mean, something more like not acquiescing.

Haha, it is so easy to find yourself surrounded by stuff! I love George Carlin's bit on our tendency to stuff-worship. I think the only reason that I succeed at being a sort-of-minimalist now is that I've moved cross-continent a couple of times. Somewhere along the way I realized it takes up space in your brain, too, somehow, and that was never part of the deal.

My 11 overlaps with his 2, and I imagine part of it is semantics because I don't like to think of myself as dominating anyone but I am a more demanding than I typically acknowledge. The distinction is that my 11 extends to people you don't know personally.

Yes, open to learning, but having learned enough to understand where the world ends and where you begin and that the boundary will always feel different because it never existed and always did. I think I've earned the right to be an expert on myself in a way that no one else could ever be, but I'm still interested to see myself how others do. It's about finding the balance, and respecting it.

 

[IrezumiKiss]

This would also be a list to put in the Good Reads thread, in complete aggregate.

 

[Libsam]

What is this psychobabble, pussy grabbin' bullshit?

http://i.imgur.com/FMvU5vw.gif

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

So it's okay to get around the forum rules by posting the whole article, in toto one section at a time?


I'll ask...

 

[Pookie]

So it's okay to get around the forum rules by posting the whole article, in toto one section at a time?


I'll ask...

5. Learn to relax.
Great tension is an abomination. The more tense we become, the more stupidly we are likely to act

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

What you seem to be saying Pookie is that there are rules for people like me whom you dislike that don't apply to people you like, like Perg?


From Laurel's sticky, right at the top of the page, where it cannot be missed:

...

Per our Rule #3 of our Forum Rules
3. Do not upload copyrighted images or post articles in their entirety. Fair use laws allow some posting of copyrighted material, such as excerpts from articles and screen captures from movies, under certain circumstances. Please do a Google search under "Fair Use" if you want to understand this issue better.
If you find an article you would like to say, please excerpt 1-4 paragraphs of it - less than 50% of the total article - and then provide a link to the full article.

Again, please do not post full articles, and please do not post articles written by others without attribution....

 

[Pookie]

What you seem to be saying Pookie is that there are rules for people like me whom you dislike that don't apply to people you like, like Perg?


From Laurel's sticky, right at the top of the page, where it cannot be missed:

What I seem to be saying is "lighten up Francis" and just report it.

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

I did.


But since Perg's been away so long and not seen the spate of bannings over the issue, I thought I might drop by and give him a warning, maybe even get Laurel to give him a warning in the spirit of fair play and a level playing field...

 

[Pookie]

I did.


But since Perg's been away so long and not seen the spate of bannings over the issue, I thought I might drop by and give him a warning, maybe even get Laurel to give him a warning in the spirit of fair play and a level playing field...

Your warning savors strongly of bitterness. Just sayin!

 

[Lancecastor]

AJ is right, of course, which is something the hens here can't abide.

But to the thread topic: perg's rules for life were penned by a snake oil wierdo from Peterborough. (If you read about "Manly P. Hall" , i guarantee you'll be snickering at perg, so please, go check it out)

 

[4est_4est_Gump]

Yes, I am right, not bitter...


Fool ignores me, I ignore him, but by gawd after everyone and his brother reports me for violating rules, but never said boo when throb was ranting about under-age incest, I'm reporting everything I can find from here on out, because Laurel said straight up, I never saw a thing! You never reported him!

 

[MNGuy]

I worry if I don’t dominate others, they will beat me to my ambitious dream job. Then I can’t get all I want and won’t be able to relax. Seriously, I exist to destroy my enemies with great vengeance.

I don't think this will work for me.