50ish postulates on Life

I've been writing these down for years now, whenever they come to me, whether it's out of my head or stolen from someone else, and finally got around to typing most of them so I could share. I don't consider these to be absolute truths in themselves, but rather tools to help to see the situation in a different way. I hope some of you might enjoy some of them.

1. To receive joyfully is often the best gift you can give.

2. Liberation, not perfection.

3. Never be deterred by the presence of cranky people in the world.

4. If you insist on only doing things that make logical sense, you are doomed to only using a small part of your capacities.

5. Putting too much energy into making a decision when you can't tell the outcome anyway is often a bad decision in itself.

6. Expecting to do good work without support and encouragement from others is like expecting spontaneous combustion.

7. Telling part of the truth is a great way to get lousy advice.

8. Unconditional love: the rest is just details.

9. The outside world will always be chaos. All you can control is whether you let it overwhelm you or whether you can find harmony within yourself.

10. There is no final outcome.

11. Never scoff at what you don't understand, lest you lose the opportunity to learn something valuable.

12. Don't make it harder than it is. Ask yourself, "How much effort does this really take?"

13. When in doubt, and especially when dealing with people, always use the least amount of force necessary to achieve a result.

14. Never underestimate anyone.

15. Behaving inconsistently is the best way to get inconsistent results.

16. You're never too old for beginner mind.

17. Watch and learn.

18. You must be the change you wish to see in your relationships.

19. On the whole, worrying is more likely to shorten your life than to lengthen it.

20. There is nothing I can ever hope for or offer beyond the beauty of this moment and the capacity to appreciate it.

21. Try to remember you don't actually know what is going to happen.

22. Don't give lesser ideas, however popular, any voice in your affairs.

23. Don't let high standards give other people an opportunity to paint you as a failure.

24. When you think something is going too slowly, your own impatience is probably the problem.

25. The heart is one thing that can never be rushed.

26. Sincerity is the ultimate trump card.

27. Trust is more important than control. (Don't justify, trustify.)

28. Living without shame may offend some people. Just thank them and remember that your attitude will liberate some people, too.

29. Everything that happens is good. No, really. Everything.

30. When evaluating your thoughts, ask yourself, "Would God/Buddha think that way?"

31. In spite of difficulties, there's always a reason you are who you are and not someone else.

32. Don't worry about whether you have genius, but whether you have room to welcome it when it knocks on your door.

33. Sometimes the worst thing that ever happened to you is the best thing that ever happened to you.

34. To do something human in our society is already to be noncomformist.

35. You don't have to.

36. When the worst-case scenario happens, life goes on. In fact, life *is* the worst-case scenario.

37. Being with another in their suffering is a greater love than trying to fix their suffering.

38. It's tempting to resolve ongoing tension at any cost, but first ask yourself whether the tension might actually be necessary and productive.

39. Try to remember that not everybody has the same neuroses as you.

40. Looking for the purpose in life is a symptom of being cut off from belonging in life.

41. Ideas can be inaccurate, and actions can be misguided, but feelings and needs can never be wrong.

42. Accepting that there are situations you can do nothing to improve is a cornerstone of sanity.

43. The acid test of whether you are acting out of love is whether you feel genuine peace in your heart.

44. Remember you are unspeakably wealthy.

45. If life suddenly seems worthless, it's a good sign that you've lost sight of your own priorities.

46. Every time you tell yourself "I failed," you should celebrate because it's evidence that you must have tried.

47. Any habit can be changed, but no habit can be changed except by consistent practice.

48. Anything that is not urgent, scheduled, or a habit will get done only sporadically.

49. You become the first thing you do in the morning.

50. You will have discouragement in proportion to the size of your aspirations, which is why you must also have persistence in proportion to them.