The Unwritten Rules of Life
Volume 1
by
Stepan Stepanian
Copyright 2011 Stepan Stepanian,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0093-8
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
This book is dedicated to my Grandmother, who raised and taught me about the important rules of life and made me the man I am today.
This book is also dedicated to the loving memory of my cousin, Hagop Minassian, who taught us all to appreciate and live life to the fullest, no matter what.
Introduction
This book is a compilation of the many different rules of life that most of us have heard, but have never really had explained. There will be a few rules in this book that will sound very familiar to a lot of people, but there will also be those few rules that many people have never heard of. These are rules that go without say; most of the time people follow these rules without even knowing that such a rule exists. Many of the rules are part of the unwritten rules of “man code”, while the majority of them concern both men and women. If you use this book as a guideline in your everyday life, you will notice that things will become much clearer and easier to deal with.
The Rules
The Golden Rule
Although this is one rule that is written in the Bible, it is still one of the oldest and most important rules in life. The rule simply is: to do to others what you would have them do to you. In other words, if you treat others with disrespect, hate, anger, envy, jealousy and any other negative emotion or act, you should expect to receive the same type of response from them toward you. If you treat others with respect, courtesy, love, reverence and any other positive sentiment, you can expect to receive the same reaction from them. Do not treat others like they are worthless and act surprised if they return the same attitude towards you.
Man Up
This rule can be summed up in one very easy sentence: simply, take responsibility for your actions. If you decide to do something, make sure you are prepared for the consequences of your actions. It is very easy to do something and then sit back and point fingers at others, blaming them for the things that you have done, especially when things do not go the way you planned. Life is full of mistakes and bad decisions, be an adult and own up to yours. Even if the outcome is very bad, at least you can walk with your head held high by taking responsibility.
Life Is What You Make It
The title of this rule can pretty much speak for itself. Whether you are a millionaire, vacationing in all of the hot spots around the world, or a parent of two working a 9 to 5 job trying to make ends meet, your life is what you choose it to be. The bottom line is whether you are happy with the life you are leading. Those people who always want more than they have will often find themselves doing just that for the rest of their lives: wanting. However, those who are happy with what they have and appreciate the life they are leading, they make their lives that much better. It’s all relative to you and your attitude towards life.
Be Careful What You Wish For…
This is almost a continuation of the previous rule. Basically put, be careful about the things you think you want and focus more on the things you know you need. It is very common to want more things, a faster car, a bigger house etc. However, having all these things do not necessarily equal happiness. Just because something makes someone else happy, it does not guarantee your happiness, too. This does not mean you should not want things you do not have, but it in fact means you should make sure you want those things for the right reason.
It’s Just A Glass Of Water
We have all heard the sayings; the glass is half full versus the glass is half empty. These statements correspond to optimists and pessimists, respectively. This rule, however, is the realists’ approach. In other words, it does not really matter the amount of water that is in the glass, all that matters is you recognize that there is water in it. A real world example of this would be a pessimist complaining that a task is too difficult versus an optimist who finds the task very simple versus a realist who just performs the task because it needs to be done.
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
When you set a goal for yourself, whether it is something as simple as waking up at a particular time to get some extra work done in the morning or something a little more complex, such as starting a small business, set a goal for yourself and follow through with it. Dreams can only come true if you make them a realization in your life. You have to drive yourself and believe in yourself that you will be able to reach your goal, and if you keep a clear image in front of you, physically or mentally, achieving that goal will become easier. If you continue to focus on the outcome you want, you will eventually reach it.
Yesterday is History
Tomorrow is a Mystery
This is another saying that everyone has heard in one context or another. The rule is simple; do not dwell in the past, move passed it and look on to the future. If you make a mistake, or if a particular event happens which does not work out the way you had hoped, do not remain in the past thinking about the "what if’s", or the "coulda, woulda, shoulda’s". Instead, learn from those events and look ahead, to the future and set yourself up for success going forward. That is not to say do not think about the past at all, just do not let it consume your every thought and allow the present and future to just go by ignored.
It Ain’t Over
‘Till The Fat Lady Sings
Whether in sports, at work, or even in your own personal life, this has been an unwritten, yet often spoken, rule of life. The bottom line here is; do not give up too soon, because you never know what is waiting for you around the corner. At times it may seem like the only thing left to do is throw in the towel. If you observe anyone, especially athletes, when the going got tough, they got tougher and they did not give up until the last second of play. Sure, it is far easier to call it quits when a few things do not go your way, but you have to push yourself passed the adversities and tough it out all the way to the end.
Hi, My Name Is…
In a world filled with over 6 billion inhabitants, there are many different types of people from many different walks of life. The rule here is to simply be yourself and not try to be someone you are not just to impress others. Sometimes, it is easy to forget who you are or what makes you unique from the rest of the world, especially earlier in life and in school. You have to remember, though,
