Author: Morten

These rules could possibly be The Rules of Life! 🙂

Health: 

1. Drink plenty of water. 

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. 

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants. 

4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy. 

5. Make time for prayer. 

6. Play more games. 

7. Read more books than you did in 2008. 

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day. 

9. Sleep for 7 hours. 

10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk, smile. 

Personality: 

11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about. 

12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment. 

13. Don’t over do. Keep your limits. 

14. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does. 

15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip. 

16. Dream more while you are awake. 

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. 

18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness. 

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others. 

20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present. 

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. 

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime. 

23. Smile and laugh more. 

24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree. 

Society: 

25. Call your family often. 

26. Each day give something good to others. 

27. Forgive everyone for everything. 

28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6. 

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day. 

30. What other people think of you is none of your business. 

31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch. 

Life: 

32. Do the right thing! 

33. Always speak the truth even if it leads to your death. 

34. GOD heals everything. 

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change. 

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up. 

37. The best is yet to come. 

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it. 

39. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

After 21 years of marriage, my wife wanted me to take another woman out to dinner and a movie. She said, “I love you, but I know this other woman loves you and would love to spend some time with you.”

The other woman that my wife wanted me to visit was my MOTHER, who has been a widow for 19 years, but the demands of my work and my three children had made it possible to visit her only occasionally. That night I called to invite her to go out for dinner and a movie. “What’s wrong, are you well?” she asked.

My mother is the type of woman who suspects that a late night call or a surprise invitation is a sign of bad news. “I thought that it would be pleasant to spend some time with you,” I responded. “Just the two of us.” She thought about it for a moment, and then said, “I would like that very much.”

That Friday after work, as I drove over to pick her up I was a bit nervous. When I arrived at her house, I noticed that she, too, seemed to be nervous about our date. She waited in the door with her coat on. She had curled her hair and was wearing the dress that she had worn to celebrate her last wedding anniversary. She smiled from a face that was as radiant as an angel’s. “I told my friends that I was going to go out with my son, and they were impressed, “she said, as she got into the car. “They can’t wait to hear about our meeting.”

We went to a restaurant that, although not elegant, was very nice and cozy. My mother took my arm as if she were the First Lady. After we sat down, I had to read the menu. Her eyes could only read large print. Half way through the entries, I lifted my eyes and saw Mom sitting there staring at me. A nostalgic smile was on her lips. “It was I who used to have to read the menu when you were small,” she said. “Then it’s time that you relax and let me return the favor,” I responded. During the dinner, we had an agreeable conversation – nothing extraordinary but catching up on recent events of each other’s life. We talked so much that we missed the movie. As we arrived at her house later, she said, “I’ll go out with you again, but only if you let me invite you.” I agreed.

“How was your dinner date?” asked my wife when I got home. “Very nice. Much more so than I could have imagined,” I answered.

A few days later, my mother died of a massive heart attack. It happened so suddenly that I didn’t have a chance to do anything for her. Some time later, I received an envelope with a copy of a restaurant receipt from the same place mother and I had dined. An attached note said: “I paid this bill in advance. I wasn’t sure that I could be there; but nevertheless, I paid for two plates – one for you and the other for your wife. You will never know what that night meant for me. I love you, son.”

At that moment, I understood the importance of saying in time: “I LOVE YOU” and to give our loved ones the time that they deserve. Nothing in life is more important than your family. Give them the time they deserve, because these things cannot be put off till “some other time.”

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.  They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now,” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things–your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions–and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else–the small stuff. “If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued, “there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your  spouse out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first–the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. “I’m glad you asked.

It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.”