Friday, July 30, 2010

Little Rules

If I had a list of rules, this would be it:

* Never stop learning.
* Never apologize if you do not regret your actions, even if that is the appropriate social response.
* Do not make excuses. Explain if necessary, but own your responsibilities.
* Get pissed off if you're pissed off. Get sad if you're sad.
* If you have a problem, sort it out. Address the problem directly and asap.
* Don't try to fix everyone.
* Bask when others shine.
* Parse constructive criticism from opinion.
* Don't hurt people through carelessness and/or cruelty.
* Tell the truth as you know it.
* Omit the unnecessary.
* Communicate

The rule I break most often is 'Communicate'. I neglect to tell people what I'm doing, when, and with whom. This mis-communication has resulted in more than one upset person, especially if that person was one with whom I have plans or was supposed to have plans.

The thing I must work on the most is 'Bask when other Shine'. Sometimes I err in my judgment of situations and bring in a buzzkill. I've been scolded by others to be happy for them. I love it when my friends do awesome things, so I am always happy for them. :) When the high is half fantasy, however, it's hard for me not to say something - anything - because I know they'll be disappointed when the high wears off and reality sets back in. It's happened around me more than once, but I've been training myself to keep my mouth shut and trying to adopt an 'enjoy the high' outlook.

The rule I follow most closely is 'Never stop Learning'. :)

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Solid set of rules, I like em a lot and will probably steal them! BWAHAHAHA!!!

Sadi said...

Great list! There's only one I disagree with personally, and it comes from my diplomatic/communicative side:
"Never apologize if you do not regret your actions, even if that is the appropriate social response."

An apology does NOT have to equal "I'm wrong." The most important part of an apology is the acknowledgment that, whether I did anything wrong or whether I regret my actions or not, the other person has bad feelings about what happened. Apologizing in that situation is "I'm sorry that something I did caused you to feel bad," not necessarily "I'm sorry for what I did." There's an important distinction in that, one I think that a lot of people miss.