If Life is a Game, These are the Rules: Ten Rules for Being Human By Cherie Carter-Scott 1.

Rule One: You will receive a o!" You may love it or hate it, but it will be yours for the duration of your life on Earth. Make peace with your body so that it can effectively serve its purpose and share its valuable lessons of acceptance, self-esteem, respect, and pleasure. Acceptance You can either continue to fight against your bodys reality by complaining and immersing yourself in self-depreciation, or you can make the very subtle but powerful mental shift into acceptance. Either way, the reality remains the same; your perception has no bearing on how your body actually looks so why not choose the ease of acceptance rather than the pain of re ection! Self-esteem "elf-esteem is feeling worthy and able to meet lifes challenges. You will be tested over and over until you feel confident about who you are and understand and believe in your intrinsic value. "elf-esteem is not something to be achieved and preserved, but rather a lifelong process to be e#plored and cultivated. Respect $reat your body with deference and respect, and it will respond accordingly. %isten to your body and its wisdom; it will tell you what it needs if you ask, listen, and take heed. Pleasure &leasure is the physical manifestation of oy. 'hat brings you pleasure! (o it, and do it often, for it will give lightness to your heart and do wonders for your soul. #. Rule Two: You will $resente! with 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. +s you strive to discover and learn about yourself, you will most likely encounter the basic lessons of openness, choice, fairness, and grace. %ook at these lessons as tools to help you discover your own uni,ue purpose. Openness -penness means being receptive to your lessons. .f you want to truly live from your authentic self, you must be open to learning all the lessons you are given so that you may grow into the person you want to be become. 'hat lessons are you resisting! Choice

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7hoice is the e#ploration of desire and then the selection of action. 8ow does it feel to act on your choices! 9emember that feeling. .t is the essence of living aligned with your path. Fairness -ur sense of fairness is the e#pectation of e,uity:the assumption that all things are e,ual and that ustice will always prevail. 8owever, life is not fair. You may have a more difficult life path than others around you, deserved or not. ;ocusing on the unfairness of circumstances keeps you comparing yourself with others rather than appreciating your own special uni,ueness. 'hat perception of unfairness holds you back! Grace <race is difficult to describe but easy to recogni=e. $o live in a state of grace means to be fully in tune with your spiritual nature and a higher power that sustains you. 9emember each and every day that the lessons you are presented with are special gifts uni,uely for you, and that learning these lessons is what will bring you to a state of grace.

%. Rule Three: There are no mista&es, onl" lessons <rowth is a process of e#perimentation, a series of trials, errors, and occasional victories. $he failed e#periments are as much a part of the process as the e#periments that work. 'ithout the lessons of compassion, forgi eness, ethics, and humor, you remain trapped in your limited view and unable to parlay mistakes into valuable learning opportunities. Compassion 7ompassion is the act of opening your heart. $o live in a state of compassion means you approach the world with your emotional barriers lowered and your ability to connect with others intact. 9eali=e you are in control of the erection or destruction of those barriers that create distance between you and others. You can choose to dissolve those barriers when you want to connect with the heart of another. You can also choose to limit others access to your heart when you need to, by forming udgements that separate you from that what you are udging. 'hat udgements do you need to transcend to learn the lesson of compassion! Forgi eness ;orgiveness is the act of erasing an emotional debt. You engage in a conscious and deliberate release of resentment. &erceiving past actions as mistakes implies guilt and blame, and it is not possible to learn anything meaningful while you are engaged in blaming. ;our kinds of forgiveness>

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?eginner forgiveness of yourself:?e compassionate toward yourself for doing the best you could with the resources you had at the time, make amends, and then release the situation. ?eginner forgiveness of another:.dentify with that persons motivation so you can understand why she did what she did, show compassion, and then release it. +dvanced forgiveness of yourself:@nderstand why you did what you did, make amends as best you can, then find it in your heart to absolve yourself. +dvanced forgiveness of another:+llow yourself to fully feel the hurt or anger so that you can release it, then view the situation as a necessary part of your path of spiritual evolution.

!thics Ethic codes are not universal. $here is no one set of guidelines that works for everyone around the world, since what we may consider morally wrong in one culture might be acceptable in another. +t its most basic, ethics involves choosing right or good behavior in your relationships with others. You will know when you are not acting in alignment with your moral code, because your conscience will remind you of the difference between what is ethically right and how you actually behaved. "umor %earn to invite amusement into situations that might otherwise be disastrous. %aughter teaches you to lighten up and take yourself less seriously, even in the most serious of situations. <ive yourself permission to laugh. Youll be ama=ed at how ,uickly a crisis can turn into a comedy when you invite in humor.

'. Rule (our: ) lesson is re$eate! until learne! $he only way you can free yourself of difficult patterns and issues you tend to repeat is by shifting your perspective so that you can recogni=e the patterns and learn the lessons they offer. .dentify and release the patterns you are repeating. "i# basic steps to making any change in your life are awareness, acknowledgement, choice, strategy, commitment, and celebration. .n order to facilitate your process of change, youll need to learn the lessons of a#areness, #illingness, causality, and patience. A#areness +wareness is the process of becoming fully conscious. &aying attention to your feelings is the easiest way to get in touch with your inner machinations. Aoticing your behavior can bring you to awareness. "ince lessons are repeated until learned, and since you cannot learn lessons until you become aware of them, it makes sense that you will need to cultivate

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awareness if you are to ever progress from where you are right now on your path. 'hat patterns are you repeating! $illingness $he real secret to be able to change is the willingness to do so. '+A$ leads to 78-.7E, which leads to 7-MM.$MEA$. "8-@%( leads to (E7.".-A, which leads to "+79.;.7E. .f youre struggling to make a change in your life, ask yourself, )8ow willing am ., really, to make this change!* 9ely on your intrinsic desire to make the change, not the belief that you "8-@%( change. Causality 7ausality is the acknowledgement that you are the source of your manifestations. Everything you attract into your life is coming to you because of something you are pro ecting out into the world, and you are responsible for drawing to you all of your circumstances. Patience &atience is the display of tolerance while awaiting an outcome. 7hange is rarely easy, and you need to e#ercise gentleness and patience with yourself as you work your way thru this process. + lesson will be repeated until learned. .t ust takes a little patience.

*. Rule (ive: Learning !oes not en! $here is no part of life that does not contain lessons. .f you are alive, there are lessons to be learned. .t is a relief to finally understand that you never actually master life, and that striving to do so will only lead to frustration. Embrace your role as a perpetual student. <ive in to the idea that you actually dont know everything you need to. .n order to rise to the challenge of embracing your role as a perpetual student, you need to learn the lessons of surrender, commitment, humility, and fle%i&ility. Surrender "urrender is the transcendence of ego and the release of control. Your peaks and valleys of your personal path become easier to traverse when you surrender to them. "urrender to what is, rather than trying to create what you envision should be. (ont remain passive and ust let life happen to you. 9ather, learn to surrender to those circumstances over which you never really have any control anyway. Commitment 7ommitment means devoting yourself to something or someone and staying with it:no matter what. "umility

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+ person with humility has a confident yet modest sense of his own merits, but also an understanding of his limitations. "ome people e#perience so much success in life that they take it for granted, e#pecting things to go their way automatically. 'hen an inflated ego ignores civility and patience, the universe introduces humility in a way to bring the ego back down to Earth. Fle%i&ility ;le#ibility is being adaptable to change. You will be tempted to try to hold on to what is, when, in fact, what is is only a temporary phase that evolves almost immediately into what was. %earn to bend and fle# around every new circumstance. 9igidity robs you of the opportunity to see the freedom of new possibilities. %earn to be fle#ible. .t makes curves in your life path much more easier to maneuver.

+. Rule ,i-: .There/ is no etter than .here/ 'hen your )there* has become a )here,* you will simply obtain a )there* that will look better to you than your present )here.* Many people believe that they will be happy once they arrive at some specific goal they set for themselves. 8owever, more often than not, once you arrive )there* you will still feel dissatisfied, and move your )there* vision to yet another point in the future. ?y always chasing another )there,* you are never really appreciating what you already have right )here.* ?y learning the lessons of gratitude, unattachment, a&undance, and peace, you can bring yourself closer to fulfilling the challenge of living in the present. Gratitude $o be grateful means you are thankful for and appreciative of what you have and where you are on your path right now. <ratitude is a lesson that needs to be reinforced often. 'ays to cultivate gratitude> .magine what your life would be like if you lost all that you had. Make a list each day of all that you are grateful for, so that you can stay conscious daily of your blessings. "pend time offering assistance to those who are less fortunate than you, so you may gain perspective. %ook for the gift in each challenging incident. 'nattachment @nattachment is the release of need or e#pectation associated with a specific outcome. 'e become attached to the way we envision something working out, and struggle to make circumstances bend to our desires.

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%ife has its own agenda and we are destined to suffer unless we give up our attachment to things working out e#actly as we would like. &ay attention to the motivations behind your attachments. .n order to learn how to dissolve attachments, you will need to take the following steps> 0. Aotice what you want and acknowledge the outcome you are attached to. /. .magine the ideal outcome of your situation, and then imagine the worsecase scenario. (oing this brings any hidden fears to light and makes it acceptable for the outcome to go either way. 2. Make a clear statement to the universe by writing our your desire clearly or saying it out loud. 1. .n your mind, create the image of you holding the intention lightly in the palm of your hand, with your fingers held loosely open. 4. Mentally release the desire out of the universe, trusting that whatever outcome you receive will be the right one. You can use the visuali=ation of placing your wish n a helium balloon and allowing the balloon to drift up and away. +ctually see yourself letting go of the attachment. A&undance +bundance means that all things are possible and that there is more than enough of everything for everyone, right here and now. Ao amount of e#ternal ob ects, affection, love, or attention can ever fill an inner void. You already have and are enough; revel in your own interior abundance and you will never need to look elsewhere. Peace 9ela#ing into the present moment puts you in the mental and physical state of calm, ,uiet, and tran,uillity and finally gets us off the here-but-gotta-get-there treadmill. You are too busy being in the moment to analy=e it and find fault with it. -f course you shouldnt float thru life, completely detached from the past and blind to the future. Bust pause from time to time to be fully rooted in the moment and feel the peace that results.

0. Rule ,even: Others are onl" mirrors of "ou You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. Your reactions to other people are really ust barometers for how you perceive yourself. +ssess all the decisions, udgments, and pro ections you make onto others and begin to view them as clues to how you can heal yourself and become whole. +s we learn the lessons of tolerance, clarity, healing, and support, we take a vital step toward shifting our perspective from others to ourselves. (olerance

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$olerance is the outward e#tension of acceptance; it is when you learn to embrace all parts of others and allow them to be and e#press themselves fully as uni,ue humans that they are. 'henever you find yourself intolerant of someone, ask yourself, )'hat is the feeling underneath this udgment that . dont want to feel!* ;ocus on actually feeling that feeling so that your intolerance can evaporate, and you can embrace both your own emotions and the actions or behavior of the person you are udging. Clarity 7larity is the state of seeing clearly. You achieve clarity in those moments of startling insight when you are able to shift your perspective by viewing a situation in a new light. $he best way to learn clarity is to identify those times when you are not e#periencing it; the moments of fogginess can be clues that the lesson of clarity is being presented. 'hen you are focused on the way someone else has behaved, you are in the fog. 'hen you are focused on your udgment of others, you are not using them as mirrors and thus are stuck in the fog. +chieve clarity by shifting perspective from other6outer to self6inner. $hose are the moments to pause and ask yourself thru what personal lens you are viewing the circumstance. $he moment you hold up the mirror, you begin to approach clarity. "ealing 8ealing is restoration to a state of wholeness and well-being:physically, emotionally and spiritually. @se your outer e#periences as tools to heal your inner wounds. (eal with the feelings that surface in certain difficult situations once and for all. 'hat wounds do you carry that need to be healed! Support You support someone when you willing step forward to strengthen, energi=e, and help her thru a challenging time. 'hen you support others, you are also supporting yourself. 'hen you withhold support from others, it is usually an indicator that you are also withholding support from yourself. 'hen you find yourself unable to support someone else, look within and see if perhaps there is something within yourself that you are not supporting. 'hen you give complete support to others, it will mirror those places within you that re,uire the same level of attention.

1. Rule 2ight: 3hat "ou ma&e of "our life is u$ to "ou You have all the tools and resources you need. 'hat you do with them is up to you. You create your own reality. You have the ability to script the life you desire.

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$he lessons of responsi&ility, release, courage, po#er, and ad enture will lead you to the life you were meant to live and provide you with the tools you need in order to take command of your life. Responsi&ility $o take responsibility means you admit your accountability and acknowledge your influence and role in the circumstances in which you find yourself. 9esponsibility is not blame. ?lame is associated with fault, whereas responsibility denotes authorship. Release 9elease is simply the act of letting go. .n every situation, you can either take responsibility and attempt to cause things to happen, or you can let go. Aeither option is better or worse. Every situation is different, and only you will know what is the right thing to do in each case. You learn the lesson of release when you begin to choose it as a conscious act rather than as a passive means to hide from responsibility. %et go of certain self-beliefs that hold you back from creating your own reality:lack of self-esteem, anger, negative memories, for e#ample. -nce you become aware of what stands in your way and become willing to release it, you signal to the universe that you are ready to manifest the life you were meant to live. Courage 7ourage is finding the inner strength and bravery re,uired when confronting danger, difficulty, or opposition. .t takes courage to embrace the idea that what you make of your life is up to you and to actually do what you need to do. $hose times when you may be unable to locate that reservoir of courage stored inside you, draw on the support of loved ones around you. You can borrow the courage you need from other people who believe in you. 'hat fears stand in your way! ?ring them to light so you can loosen their hold over you. ;ears, real or imagined, only impede you so banish them and create the life you desire. Po#er &ower means demonstrating your ability to manifest reality. 'e call upon this power as we set out to design our lives according to our will. Your inner power is already within you. .n the times you have difficulty seeing that light within you, identify what is robbing you of your power and patch the leaks. Ad enture +dventure is the result of your willingness to live life with a spirit of enthusiasm. +n adventure is any e#perience that takes you beyond your comfort level.

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"ince what you make of your life is up to you, you can either create a life filled with miraculous adventures or stay huddled and safe, never e#periencing the oyful rush of ourneying outside your world with boldness and abandon. 7ould you use more adventure in your life! .f so, follow the words of <oethe> )'hatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. ?oldness has genius, power, and magic in it.*

4. Rule 5ine: Your answers lie insi!e of "ou +ll you need to do is look, listen, and trust. Your true messages can come in a variety of forms:)little voice,* intuitive flash, in a letter, phone call or printed on the inside flap of a bo# of tea, for e#ample. Even if you are not open to them, your true messages have a way of finding you no matter where you hide. .gnoring your inner voice or closing yourself off to your inner truth only invites it to show up in other, more negative, ways such as depression, addictive behaviors or discontent. %ife flows more smoothly when we heed our inner messages. $o tune into your inner knowing, you need to learn the lessons of listening, trust, and inspiration. )istening %istening is actively focusing on what messages you are receiving, both verbally and nonverbally. $une in and hear your inner knowing. %isten closely to hear our messages, as they do not always sound or look the way we think they will. You need to be tuned in to pick up their fre,uency, or else you might miss some important clues being generated from your spiritual center. (rust -nce you learn to listen to your messages, you then move to the ne#t, deeper level of growth> trusting those messages. $ake a leap of faith and believe that your inner knowing is guiding you toward your greater good. $rust is the attunement of your instincts to know who and what is in your best interest, so that you may rely absolutely on the validity of your messages. You can begin to learn to trust your messages by starting with the small ones. 9ecalling times in the past that trusting your instincts lead you to the right course of action will also help. *nspiration .nspiration is the moment in which the spirit within is accessed and revealed. .nspiration dawns when something in your outer world sparks a flame within you and calls forth a message. .t is often easy to miss those moments until you learn to truly hear the inner )dingF* and give it the space to emerge into your consciousness.

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"pending time with nature, the arts, poetry, literature, music, etc are all sources of inspiration. 'hat inspires you!

16. Rule Ten: You will forget all of this at irth You came into this world already knowing all of the information in these $en 9ules. You simply forgot them somewhere along your ourney from the spirit world to the physical one. You can remember it if you want by unraveling the double heli# of inner knowing. 'e each have many cycles of remembering and forgetting in our lifetime. 7reate ways to find your way back when you forget by learning the advanced lessons of faith, #isdom, and limitlessness. Faith 8ave faith in yourself that you will remember your truth and the knowledge stored deep within your soul. %ife can be difficult and there may be times when you cannot make sense out of it or stay afloat. $hese are the moments that re,uire faith. ;aith is believing, without any tangible proof, that although the truth may seem eclipsed at times, it does not disappear forever. .t simply lies dormant inside you until you reconnect with your innate wisdom. $o restore your faith during dark moments, surround yourself with people who know your personal truth and who are familiar with your authentic self, and you can keep yourself rooted to your truth. +nother way to keep your faith alive is through touchstones. .n your enlightened moments, collect things that connect you to your source:like symbols, ob ects or bits of writing, ,uotes etc. $hen in moments of darkness, surround yourself with them to remind you of who you are and what you are capable of. ;aith can also be reignited by engaging in any activity that centers you: prayer, deep breathing, reading, mediating, ogging, drawing etc. 'hat gives you spiritual energy! 'hat acts as your life preserver! 'hat is the motion that will pull you up when you are sinking! $isdom 'isdom is the highest and deepest degree of knowledge, insight, and understanding. 'isdom is not a state to be achieved, but rather a state to be recalled. 'isdom is the highest level of emotional, spiritual, and mental evolutions, at which you value intuition as much as knowledge. .t is where you synergi=e your deepest understanding with your everyday actions. $he most direct path to your wisdom is paved with your lifes lessons. ;inding the wisdom inside you and reaching your highest levels of evolution can be one of the most selfless lessons you can learn. .t will elevate you and

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propel you along your own path so that you may contribute the results of all your other lessons to the rest of the world. )imitlessness %imitlessness is the sense that there are no boundaries to what you can become or do. You learn it when you know that your evolution is neverending and your potential for growth reaches to infinity. You already have infinite potential within you. $here is nothing you cannot do, be, or have. Gnow your limits, not so that you can honor them, but so that you can smash them to pieces and reach for magnificence. Each lesson you learn in your lifetime will open doorways to your own sense of limitlessness. $here is no limit to your compassion or patience, nor to your willingness, commitment, tolerance, or any other pocket of understanding you reach into. You have infinite permission to love, to grow, to re-remember all the wisdom within you.

,ummar" 9emind yourself that you are here to learn lessons. ?e present with your process. &ay attention to what you are e#periencing. ?e diligent with actions which enable you to )get* the lessons presented to you. +sk for answers and you shall receive them. %isten with an open heart. E#plore all options. "ee your udgment as a mirror. Hiew each crisis as an opportunity. $rust yourself. ?elieve in yourself. %ook within yourself, to your higher self, for guidance on all your choices. E#tend compassion to yourself. 9emember, there are no mistakes, only lessons. %ove yourself, trust your choices, and everything is possibleF

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