Rules for Living
rules-for-livingIn my mid-twenties, while I was seeking a solution to the depression and sense of being lost that had been my constant companion for years, and in tandem with weekly therapy and daily antidepressants, I read as many self-help books as I could lay my hands on. Some were more useful than others, and some have turned out to be more controversial than I would have expected. But none was entirely useless. Jordan Peterson has become a bit of a pariah in latter days, but his book 12 Rules for life did for the me of a decade ago have some valuable lessons. Not lots, and on reevaluation many of them are couched in some extremely “traditional” views, to say nothing of their intense religious angle. But the pithy summaries of most of his “rules” can hardly be considered controversial:
- “Stand up straight with your shoulders back.”
- “Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping.”
- “Make friends with people who want the best for you.”
- “Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today.”
- “Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them.”
- “Set your house in perfect order before you criticize the world.”
- “Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedient).”
- “Tell the truth – or, at least, don’t lie.”
- “Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you don’t.”
- “Be precise in your speech.”
- “Do not bother children when they are skateboarding.”
- “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.”
It is notable that Peterson’s behaviour of late seems to demonstrate that he isn’t taking his own advice!
Rather than reread Peterson, or indeed any other self-help books, I recently took it upon myself to start writing down little mantras and rules that felt meaningful to me, and that had helped me navigate life as an adult in a world that seems increasingly organised to frustrate my desire to be happy. These form a manual of sorts. Eibhlín’s operating instructions. An antidote to Jordan Peterson. I don’t know how many entries in this series there will be, or how much detail I’ll be able to ascribe to each mantra. They probably aren’t original. They might not be helpful to anyone but me. But this is as much an exercise in organising my thoughts as it is in publishing writing on the regular. To whit, I aim to publish a new entry every week. Fingers crossed, eh?
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