It’s strange. It’s strange that I keep hurting people. I try and try but it appears impossible that people don’t get hurt – sometimes my ego comes in my way, sometimes I have to choose between one person or the other. These days, I am so confused that most of the times it is my lack of decision making and complete stagnation, no action, that hurts people, including myself.
I am concluding for now that it is in fact impossible to keep others happy all the time. It’s impossible to keep any one happy all the time. Forget about any one else, it is impossible to keep myself happy all the time. The person over whom I have the most control over is me. But if I can’t keep myself happy all the time then how can I even fathom to keep someone else happy.
The dilemma at every juncture is because of a lack of clarity. Happiness or no happiness, clarity is something that one can attain.
I have tried one way of life (people centric); let’s try another way (principle centric). Perhaps sticking to a few rules all the time would bring about clarity because unlike people (including me), rules don’t have a mind of their own – by themselves, they don’t change every other day or hour. You may choose to break it or bend it but rules are as they are. Below are a few rules that I am jotting down and giving myself some time to adhere to. There are a few rules I had thought of earlier to bring in my life but postponed those because it seems not possible to adhere to these in the strictest interpretation of the words. The mind goes for a spin when one decides to adhere to any rule and imagines the many ‘what-ifs’ which brings forth a lot of exceptions. I guess the key is to adhere to the spirit of the rule & not merely take them at face value and get jumbled in the words. Be your own judge – whenever you have a need to justify yourself because of any exception, know that you have broken the rule.
Ten Disciplines For Me
- WAKE UP BEFORE 4AM.
~ 4 months
No snooze – wake up at once.
- ALWAYS SPEAK THE TRUTH AS YOU KNOW IT.
~ 1 year
Be gentle.
Any exaggeration is a lie.
Accept the consequences.
- DO NOT REGRET THE PAST.
~ 1 year
- PLAN FOR ONLY ONE MORE DAY AND NO FURTHER.
~ 6 months
If you must, set aside time for daydreaming.
If you must, have a broad outline for a trip or a project; have an objective.
- DO NOT ACCEPT ANY GIFT.
~ 6 months
Do not accept any favor (or gift in any material form) that you cannot return or pass forward within a year.
- EXERCISE FOR AT LEAST 15 MINUTES DAILY; MEDITATE TWICE DAILY FOR AT LEAST 2 MINUTES.
~ 4 months
- NO DAILY NEWS.
~ 4 months
News can wait; check it once a week.
- SPEND AT LEAST 7 HOURS PER WEEK ON TASKS THAT DO NOT BENEFIT YOU, OR ANYONE RELATED TO YOU.
~ 1 year
Start with one hour.
- HAVE THE SAME ATTITUDE WHEN YOU ARE ALONE AS WHEN IN COMPANY (WHILE RECEIVING A GUEST).
~ 1 year
Life should be an open book; nothing to hide.
Practice what you preach.
- HAVE A CLEAN SURROUNDING.
~ 6 months
Vacuum clean carpet every week. Clean your bathroom every week.
Simplify your closet; simplify dressing. Always wear clean dresses.
Get rid of stuff you don’t need.
Reduce gossip; Reduce talking about people.
Photo by Sindre Strøm from Pexels
never not now 