RULE 1 Life is not fair - get used to it. RULE 2 The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. RULE 3 You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with car phone, until you earn both. RULE 4 If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure. RULE 5 Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping they called it Opportunity.Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
These are swell rules for the employment part of life, but I think family and relationships are a more important aspects of what I would call a successful life and these rules don't really address that. Welcome to the forum.
Welcome to the forum Zack. You are quite correct in identifying that life is an opportunity, nothing more. None of us has any control over where, when and to whom we are born or with what gifts/challenges to work with. 'Equality' and 'equal opportunity' are wonderful ideologies yet even if we were all given the same resources and starting point, even the same biology, we would not end up at the same place over time because our individually accumulated experience will differ and we make our decisions predicated on previous experience, in my observation.
Welcome Zack..But I do believe I posted all of these rules( 11 in total) awhile back but don't sweat it. http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?113085-The-11-commandments&highlight=
Code: Here's the thing; your grandparents probably didn't spend their entire lives being told "you have to study hard and get good grades and go to college if you don't want to end up flipping burgers!" by every adult they met. It's sort of a motivational bait-and-switch, first telling young people that flipping burgers is "bad" outcome that they will face if they don't act like a diligent worker bee in school, but then acting all self-righteous with comments of "What, you think you're too good to flip burgers?!?" when a young person does all that and expects to get a "real" job in return. Hey, dumbasses: you're the ones who taught that kid that getting an education made him too good to flip burgers! It's also hilarious that these "rules" came from a speech by Bill Gates, a man who was born richer than most people could ever hope to be, given every advantage in life that a person could possibly have, and certainly never had to face the prospect of flipping burgers. Which doesn't mean that he's wrong, of course, but hearing Bill Gates say that there's nothing wrong with flipping burgers is kind of like hearing the tallest man in the world say that there's nothing wrong with being short. And finally, Gate's grandfather was ALSO born rich. His grandfather was the son of a millionaire banker. So, contrary to what Gates said, I doubt very much that his grandfather ever would have thought of flipping burgers an "opportunity."
Golden rule for life - Live it. Embrace it, sincerely and passionately. Smile as much as possible. See the humour in all things. Extend your compassion to all living creatures. Accept challenges and hardships as an opportunity for personal development. Continually explore, question and find new ways to stay inspired.