If Life Is A Game, Here Are The Rules

I’ve read a number of new to me books this year that I meant to talk about and share here. Like a lot of topics and ideas, I haven’t made the time to blog about it. Better late than never, right?

“If Life Is A Game, Here Are The Rules” is one of those books. It’s a short, entertaining read and reinforces the idea that internal peace and happiness comes from simple acceptance.

A favourite, almost daily motto of mine since becoming a parent is “what you resist, will persist” and I think it holds true for so many situations. Too much time is spent trying to fight the natural order of life when it would be so much simpler to just go with the flow and accept the moment.

Striving for a natural approach to family living means to me letting my body give birth without interference or management, sleeping with my children and nursing them as they need it, for how long they need it- no matter the time of day or night and without arbitrary deadlines, not making rules for the sake of them, picking my child up when they need to be in arms, helping my child do something they already know how to do if they want the extra help, sleeping and eating when tired and hungry instead of setting schedules….

I struggle with acceptance most in my relationship with my husband. Accepting that who he is right without needing change. It’s a challenging proposition to the deep down inside of me but a worthy focus for me to work on. I have to remind myself from time to time that we aren’t working against each other. I fear continuing a cycle where some part of my children will believe that a partner is sometimes an enemy.

Many of these new to me books I’ve been reading are for inspiring a healthier partnership between Cam and I, although they can be approached from different angles- like Chi Living. I know I can’t change Cam and yet the lesson that I shouldn’t try is really just starting to sink in. I’ve been focusing on myself instead. Finding happiness no matter what he happens to do or not do. This is a much more empowering approach to a happier, healthier marriage.

I’ll leave you with the rules from “If Life Is A Game, Here Are The Rules”. If you have the time, it’s worth seeking out this book for a more in depth read of the rules. With less than 140 pages, it won’t take you long but it’s well worth it!

Rule One:
You will receive a body.
You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration
of your life on Earth.

Rule Two:
You will be presented with lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called “life.”
Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to
learn lessons. You may like the lessons or hate them, but
you have designed them as part of your curriculum.

Rule Three:
There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors,
and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much a
part of the process as the experiments that work.

Rule Four:
A lesson is repeated until learned.
Lessons will repeated to you in various forms until you have
learned them. When you have learned them, you can then go on
to the next lesson.

Rule Five:
Learning does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain lessons. If you are
alive, there are lessons to be learned.

Rule Six:
“There” is no better than “here.”
When your “there” has become a “here,” you will simply obtain
a “there” that will look better to you than your present “here.”

Rule Seven:
Others are only mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless
it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

Rule Eight:
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.

Rule Nine:
Your answers lie inside of you.
All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

Rule Ten:
You will forget all of this at birth.
You can remember it if you want by unraveling the double helix
of inner knowing.