The last 4 of the 14 rules for students . Enjoy…
11. Be nice to nerds. You will likely work for one. Actually, respect all life. Tolerance is different from respect, so respecting all life does not mean tolerate all life forms. It is not wise to tolerate anything from anyone, like someone disrespecting you or your family. But there is a difference between someone warranting intolerance versus disrespecting life in itself (e.g. I will respect life in every form, but will not tolerate a person who stole my car). Also, you never know what another person’s experience has been or will be. So why treat anyone with intolerance without reason?
12. Smoking, dying your hair purple and blue, or tattooing/piercing your entire body makes you look moronic. The repercussions of smoking are obvious now, both for the person who smokes and anyone in contact with cigarette smoke. Reverence for life must be too small in people who choose to smoke; that, and ignorance, if they choose to smoke anywhere besides an enclosed cell where no other living thing is or will be present. Addressing the dying hair and tattooing/piercing mention, I do not know why there seems to be acceptable versus unacceptable degrees of doing such things. To me, there is no difference in dying hair purple, blue, brown, blue, or any other colour. If you accept older people dying hair to “cover greys” then you better accept someone dying their hair for any other reason. Same goes for tattoos and piercings.
13. You are not immortal. Wrong. Your body is not immortal, but are you your body? Or are you much more than your body? There is no point playing it safe out of fear, if you are a sensible individual and respecting life. Every body will die at some point (some may live to 256, like Li Ching-Yuen ), may as well live while you have the chance. Obviously, the point made in these ‘rules’ is to not do stupid things, but having a rule as “you are not immortal” aids in creating a fear about taking risks. From my experience, you only learn from experiencing. I can explain to you as much as I want how wonderful it is to stand in an ocean, but you will never feel the ocean unless you stand there yourself.
14. Enjoy this while you can. Someday you’ll realize how wonderful being a kid was. I think part of the reason people become so depressed as they age is because they are living much more burdened lives than when they were children. This is sad, because as we age, we acquire more skills and abilities, with lots of lessons (hopefully) learned about how to better navigate through life. So why do people think their childhoods were wonderful compared to their current state? We can learn a lot from children, much more than they can learn from us. Most of them are free-spirited, have no limitations of themselves, and therefore constantly create and live with abandon. I plan on unweighting any burdens I feel because I have the power to do so; it is my life, isn’t it? We should get more efficient, lose unnecessary weight, as we grow through life. We should get lighter with time, not more weighed down. Yes, enjoy each moment for what it is, for neither you nor I is entitled to it. However, instead of looking back on how wonderful being a kid was, why not realize how wonderful this moment is now. If the moment you are experiencing isn’t wonderful, than do something to make it so. Think about it: a tree just stands there, experiencing life in all of its moments. Advice can be taken from the tree.
Back to school almost under way! Safe travels to you if you’re journeying to school,
Emily