HOW TO LIVE

1) Share everything. Share good stories or even bad ones, pieces of advice, smiles, hugs, your time, even your oatmeal raisin cookies (it’s also heavenly if it comes with warm milk. Ahihi!). Share your book, knowledge, experiences and adventures. Well, just don’t share your toothbrush, undergarments, etc for hygienic purposes ‘coz you wouldn’t want to catch anything unpleasant or unhealthy, right?

2) Play fair. Pardon the cliché, it’s not really winning the game that matters but how the game is played. Winning the game by playing fairly is the best boost to self-esteem.

3) Don’t hit people. They might hit you back harder and that would hurt. Well, it’s violent and wars could spring from such. But if you’re really angry and can’t contain it, go to a quiet corner, away from people, and vent it out first. Release the tension. Then, iron out a quarrel the way higher beings should do—by talking rationally.

4) Put things back where you found them. Doing this spells good manners. It is being respectful too. And yeah, you wouldn’t want to go through the ordeal of looking for lost things, especially when you’re in a hurry.

5) Clean up your own mess. Tsk. Tsk. You cannot expect other people to do it for you. Besides, it’s really very embarrassing. If you screwed up terribly, you can ask for help from friends. Though, you should know how to do it by yourself. It’s part of being responsible as a grown-up.

6) Don’t take things that aren’t yours. It is not yours and you have no right over it, so don’t take it. After all, I believe that karma works.

7) Wash your hands before you eat. This a basic good routine for hygienic purposes. You wouldn’t want to get the food that you take in mixed with unwanted particles. Yu-uuck!

8) Flush. Yes, pretty please! Oh, show mercy and spare us the agony of being confronted by such terrible show of negligence. Eeeww to the superlative!

9) Take a nap every afternoon. When I was a kid, my brothers and I used to sleep (though not willingly but we were forced to at the sight of that wooden stick!) in the afternoons. I think it helps rejuvenate a tired mind and body. Even at work, when you seem to be at a standstill, a ten-to-fifteen-minute nap is advisable. Just don’t take the whole afternoon or your boss will have your ass.

10) Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody. Face it: you did something terrible. You can do nothing but own up to it. People forgive; all you have to do is apologize. I know it is really difficult to say sorry but it is the right thing to do. To show that you regret what you did, mean it. Amen to WORLD PEACE!

11) Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you. Yummmy. Indulge and bring out warm feelings and good memories.

12) Live a balanced life—learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some. And while you do these things, don’t forget to live life to the fullest. It is short so create wonderful memories while you can. Carpe Diem!

13) When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together. Protect each other and be sensitive about each other’s need. You have no one else but each other to do that. Treasure your loved ones. They’re like postage stamps: they stick it with you till it gets to the destination, to the end.

14) Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that. God is wonderful! Nuff said.

15) Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even little seeds in the Styrofoam cup—they all die. So do we. I reiterate… Life is short, life is wonderful so love life. Live it well!

16) And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned—the biggest word of all—LOOK. Look and learn. Learn and learn. Knowledge is, indeed, power. Just remember, be responsible. “With great power comes great responsibility.” Ahihi! Familiar? Just look!

Labels: "All I Really Needed to Learn..."