Being Human..Interesting Rules

I was cleaning out my spare room and came across a sheet of paper entitled "Rules for Being Human".

I never knew there are rules for being a human. Actually the rules are not exactly the "rules" that state whether you're a real human or not. There's no such thing I guess. But these rules are more into the essence points in life that we, as a human, should be able to learn.

I am sure some of you have read them before, but it is an interesting read and a very nice reminder to get back to the basics of living.

Is living really as simple as it sounds using these rules. I suspect it is.

Society these days want us to think & perceive that life to complicated, WHY? For power, greed & oppression I suspect. I like the KISS principle "Keep It Simple Sweety".


1. You will receive a body.
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons.
Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."

4. A lesson is repeated until learned.
A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end.
There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here."
When your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

7. Others are merely mirrors of you.
You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you.
You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Life is exactly what you think it is.
You create a life that matches your beliefs and expectations.

10. Your answers lie inside you.
The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

11. You will get what you ask for.
It may not be what you wanted, but it will be what you asked for.

12. You will forget all this.

- Cherie Carter-Scott from "Chicken Soup for the Soul"

I would like to add this one.
13. You can remember it whenever you want.



I climbed a mountain yesterday and when I reached the top this is what greeted me......it felt really wonderful being human.


View from Barrenjoey Lighthouse, Palm Beach, Sydney, 16 August 2009.

Let Us.........

Let us consistently choose the single goal of peace rather than multiple goals that lead to conflict.

Let us continue to practice forgiveness and to see each other and ourselves as blameless.

Let us look lovingly upon the present, for it holds only knowledge that is forever true.

Let us continue to be involved in a process of personal transformation in which we are only concerned about giving and not about getting.

Let us recognise that we are united as one Self and illuminate the world with the Light of Love that shines through us.

Let us awaken to the knowledge that the essence of our being is Love, and, as such, we are the Light of the World.

I choose the feelings I experience, and I decide upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me,
I ask for, and receive as I have asked.


I love this photo. I was outside the orphanage in Rwanda, Africa in Nov 2006 taking photos of the people walking by and was so lucky to capture this contrasting image of the different way people reacted to the camera.

An Ode to Angels

I see your face today
I don't know your name
But I believe my souls on fire.

Across a crowded room
Our eyes chance to meet
And yes I know my souls on fire.

And I hear you call
In the middle of the night
In the middle of my fog
And I know your the one
That I am running to
When all is said and done.

You stay for hours here
I don't even know your name
But I believe I know you well.

It is how I see your eyes
And how your voice reacts
To the feelings held deep inside.

I see your face
I sense your grace
I sense the magic
It's over you.

I want the lust
I want the love
I want to take this time to heart.

I sleep for hours lately
I don't even know your name
I only know the soul and fire.

It's hard to breath at night
It's hard to breath at all
It might be true
And so devine.

I've found the hour
To make it all come true
I've got the power
I'm holding out for you.

"Philosophers have argued for centuries about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but materialists have always known it depends on whether they are jitterbugging or dancing cheek to cheek”
Tom Robbins - American Novelist.

Joseph my angel, July 2009, Cromer.

Beyond A Requisite Amount

One day I am going to get on a plane holding nothing apart from a small clutch bag containing passport, ticket, wallet and lipstick, with one paperback book casually stuffed in my pocket. I'll carry my sunnies on my head.

I did once meet a man who travelled like that. We were on a flight from London to Singapore and I noticed him in the boarding lounge, where he was the only person not carrying an inflight bag.

He got on board, put his jacket in the overhead locker and read the book all the way. By the time we made Singapore he'd finished his thriller and he left it on the seat to glide hands - free and footloose through the airport and on to whatever adventures awaited.

I, on the other had, disembarked as I had arrived - Sherpa Peggy, hauling a bulging handbag plus a tote bursting with inflight essentials. By the time I reached my hotel I needed an osteopath.

To be fair to the younger me, it was 30 years ago, when you could never be sure if they would give you anything resembling a toothbrush if you were flying in arse class, so I feel retrospectively justified about the washbag I had in there. But was the large make-up bag also necessary? The change of clothes? The 1.5 litre bottle of water was clearly excessive and I have now learned to scam it from flight attendants, so I no longer make that mistake.

Where I still go wrong, though, is the two newspapers and three glossy magazines. They weigh so much and the lugging is nightmarish, yet I am unable to resist the allure of the newsstand before getting on any kind of transport.

I have tried actively to counter this neurotic tendency by leaving home without the tote, which inevitably becomes full to maximum capacity, but this just led to a grotesque incident where a plastic shopping bag split on public transport and I had to cram bananas, sandwiches and water bottle into my handbag and jacket pockets.

The only crumb of comfort I can take from the understanding that I am a spectacularly unrelaxed traveller, even on relatively short journeys, it that I am clearly not alone in it.

Every transport hub I have ever been to - railways, airports, ferry terminals and bus stations in about 20 different countries - has been a mini medina of stalls and shops catering to transit neurosis, be it via newspaper cones of sunflower seeds, or full-fat mocha lattes and a box of cinnamon rolls.

Clearly something about leaving home - even when we are thrilled at the prospect of our trip - triggers a universal insecurity that compels us to acquire everything we might possibly need until we arrive at our destination.

If only I could convince myself it's just one paperback book.

My kitchen stained glass window I made back in 1983 when blogging hadn't taken over my life.

Walk Your Talk

Can your friends and business colleagues say that you walk your talk?

I had this quote on my refrigerator for quite some time as a reminder to me to be consistent.

This message means: Be who you say you are at all times, in public and in private. Be a walking example of the philosophy you expound, not just sometimes but at all times. If you say you are an honest person, be scrupulously so. You know what I mean...don't cheat anyone when it comes to money, to work done, to pulling your weight, to taking responsibility, to gossiping.

Others are watching and listening. They notice when we don't live up to what we say we believe in. It's a matter of integrity. I heard a woman recently promote her acrylic nail and manicure business at a networking evening. I was sitting next to her and glanced at her fingernails. They were short, unattractive and completely different to what I expected. If you say you are good at doing other's fingernails you had better be the best living example around.

I have heard salesmen describe the golden rules of giving good customer service and then have seen them treat clients with disdain. I have noticed a man telling his boss what a dedicated employee he is but I know that he steals stationery from the company.

Walking your talk is a matter of having integrity. Of course we are tested on this. I often think we have the equivalent of a line in the sand to negotiate each day. On one side of the line is our list of what we stand for. On the other side is the ocean. Small and large waves can roll in and wash away our line and our good intentions very quickly.

Each situation, personally and in business, calls for us to be on the dry side of our line in the sand. Position the line so that this is possible. If you know that you are too close to the vagaries of life and the ocean, move your beliefs to firmer and dryer land. When the waves of temptation assail us, and they will, stand firm.

If it means saying "no" to money, power, influence or offered friendship which have their foundations in wet sand, know that a day of reckoning has arrived.

I can assure you it is much easier to walk your talk than not. Then and only then are you authentic. You don't need to live a lie. You don't need to remember the complexities of your lie. You don't need to make excuses. What you say and what you do will be easy. It will be automatic. It will give you a sense of pride and deep satisfaction.

Live up to what you say you believe in and be a living, breathing, walking example of the best of you, always.

If you don't take control of your life, don't complain when others do. - Beth Mende Conny


Joseph taking a stand against the Bobcat from taking the sand away at Cromer Golf Course - June 2009