Rule of Life (22 page)

Phew. But don’t think it’s over yet. There is no time to sit still; there are no coffee breaks for Rules Players. As soon as you think you’ve got it handled, you’ll fall flat on your face. You have to keep moving forward. You have to be inventive, creative, imaginative, resourceful, original. This final Rule has to be to keep thinking up new Rules, not to stand still, to carry on developing this theme, adding to, improving on, evolving and growing and changing these Rules. These provide a jumping-off point. They’re not a revelation, more a reminder.

These Rules are a starting point for you to pick up and run with.

I’ve tried to avoid the pedestrian (Time is a great healer) and the humorous (Never tip anyone who isn’t looking) and the impractical (Love everyone), the plain daft (Turn the other cheek—you get hit twice that way, better to run I say), the wimpy (Everyone’s a rainbow), the obviously wrong (There are no victims), and the very, very difficult (Spend 35 years in a cave, and you’ll find the secret of the universe—and get a wet bottom). I’ve also avoided the trite (It’ll be alright on the night—my experience is it never is) and the unpleasant (Don’t get mad, get even).

I hope you, too, will follow a similar plan when you formulate new Rules for yourself. I guess the main thing is that you need to continually formulate your own Rules. When you learn something—from observation or just an illuminating moment—then absorb the lesson and see if there’s a Rule there for future use.

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Try to find a new Rule every day—or at least occasionally. And I am quite genuine about wanting to know what you come up with—if you want to share them. Being a Rules Player is a lot of fun and quite fascinating to try and spot other Players.

Whatever you do, though, don’t go telling everyone about it.

Keep it secret, keep it safe—but you can tell me: [email protected]

Being a Rules Player requires dedication, hard work, perseverance, keenness, ambition, enthusiasm, devotion, and sheer doggedness. Keep at it, and you will live a fulfilled, happy, and productive life. But go easy on yourself; we all fail from time to time, and no one is perfect—I’m most certainly not. Enjoy, have fun, and be good.

T H E S E R U L E S A R E A

S TA R T I N G P O I N T FO R

YO U TO P I C K U P A N D

R U N W I T H .