I like the Dalai Lama's Instructions for Life: Respect for self, respect for others, responsibility for all your actions. It would be difficult to be more succinct than that, don't you agree? But if you think those admonitions are easy to live up to, guess again. They may, indeed, be simple, but they're not easy. However, I share with you some ways to implement those Instructions for Life that, when followed, can make a huge difference professionally as well as personally, and perhaps especially, spiritually.
Be aware of yourself and the world around you. When you keep your eyes, mind, and heart open, you will see a world you may not have known or expected. It literally becomes a different world, not just a different worldview.
Learn to think independently. Easy task? Hardly. We have been programmed to adhere to the status quo since, if not birth, grade school. When you have the courage to accept your own perceptions, opportunities show up from unexpected places.
Accept your right to feel as you feel, positive and negative. Accept your right to change. Very often, other people will pigeonhole you because they see you in a certain way and don't want to even consider that you might be growing on all levels. And growth invariably means change. Some of that change can be drastic. There are those in your circles that won't like it. Don't let that deter you.
Speak and act from your deepest convictions. You may not believe this, but phoniness is almost always spotted, no matter how cleverly you create it or try to hide it. Someone in your profession, your office, your church, or your family will catch onto you in due time. The cost is high. Stay honest.
Let go of unearned guilt. Eleanor Roosevelt said, "No one can make you feel inferior without your permission." Often, we have received messages, both consciously and unconsciously, from parents, teachers, preachers, and institutions that tell us we are somehow less than worthy, less than honest, less than perfect, even when we have done nothing to earn that condemnation. But we don't have to continue holding onto those messages. We can let them go by choice. If we have earned such guilt, we can correct it. Accept the responsibility and do what must be done. You know what that is, right?
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