How I Apply 9Rules Into My Life

I remember a few years ago, I was really excited about trying to get into the 9rules Blog Network and that’s because there were a lot of awesome blogs and I wanted to be featured among these great writers. However, I stumbled upon the 9 rules of 9Rules and that totally changed my life for the better and before I can even develop my own personal mission statement, I have to recognize my inspiration (rule #9) and how it has helped me in my own life. I intend to touch on each of the 9 rules and explain how they have helped me in my own life and hopefully this might get people thinking about how they can improve their own lives.

1. Love What You Do – I think that this is a very important thing to do – because no matter if you are in middle school, University or in the professional world, you have to love what you do. If you do not love what you do, you have to get an education to do what you love to do. I know that I would be a good doctor so I am working towards becoming a Naturopathic Doctor and in my own mind, my education is personally fulfilling at this point. This is true because of the fact that I feel I was robbed of an education by the school district and my own parents and now, I am coming into a much more thorough education in the sciences. I have had a great time in my education path at Naropa University and being educated in a contemplative community of very intelligent, thoughtful people. I am not exactly “loving” what I do at the moment due to money issues but I am trying to get into the mentality of loving what I do.
2. Never stop learning – One of the things that continually confounds me is how people can feel as though they should stop learning and that is seriously one of the biggest problems with this country. I am certain though I will learn much more throughout my life and not just because my chosen profession has a continuing education requirement no matter where you go in the world. I do not even limit that to my chosen profession or religious path but rather, I would like to know more about the world I happen to live in because I have always been a curious person who has always wanted to know more. True, this desire was suppressed when I was in Christianity because the Christian religion is anti-knowledge and anti-learning but now that I am out, I have seen the fruits of this rule. In fact, I would have to say that being in the Jesus cult and having left the Jesus cult has helped to strengthen my desire to never stop learning because I have seen what it is like to be commanded to stop learning and the kind of bullshit you can believe when you stop learning.
3. Form works with function – I am not exactly at the top of style, most of the time I wear clothes which are comfortable or durable. An example would be that I really don’t wear high heels unless the occasion calls for it – but most of the time, I usually wear winter boots or Birkenstocks (given what time of year it is). I do not own a Prada purse, I own a Samsonite purse that has been through more wear than most other purses could possibly handle, to be quite honest. I do not intend to own pretty luggage, I intend to own luggage that is either cheap or sturdy and can do it’s job because I don’t like it when the things I buy break and I have to replace them.
4. Simple is beautiful – My ex, Samara, always decried the fact that I am a minimalist (as though being a minimalist was a bad thing) and there is a reason for this. I believe that very simply designed websites are implicitly beautiful and very simple things can be made very beautiful in their simplicity. For example, I have absolutely hated the remote controls for cable boxes and media centres that have all sorts of weird assed buttons, most of which never saw any use during the brief bouts of my ownership. However, the Apple Remote is, in my mind, a much superior remote control as it allows you to control your AppleTV, MacBook Pro or iMac and do things like launch Front Row and watch a movie while you are on the couch with your sweetie. I believe that a lot of interface designers, product designers and most certainly remote control designers need some fundamental courses in usability.
5. Work hard, play hard – I firmly believe in this concept, especially since I am certain that it will help me throughout my educational and professional life, as well as for the rest of my life. I am learning how to play games that will help me to open my mind and strengthen my powers of reasoning such as chess and Dungeons and Dragons. I also intend to find ways in my work that will help me to play harder as well, providing for a mutually beneficial relationship between my work and my play.
6. You get what you pay for – Having owned Macintosh laptops and netbooks, I have never believed this to be more true than right now. It seems as though when you pay more for something, it happens to be of a much better quality and is a lot more durable – but not always. I mean, there’s nothing saying that my Samsonite purse is less durable or worthy than a Prada purse but I have gotten much more benefit out of things that have cost a little more. I will provide a couple of examples. I was recently given a netbook and I would have to say that while the thought was nice, I was frustrated at the thing because out of the box, it was a slow computer. In contrast, any Macintosh computer I have ever owned has been a much more superior machine than any PC because (1) it works the way I want/need it to work and (2) it is much less likely to crash/be a slow piece of shit.
7. When you talk, I listen – A lot of people accuse me of being unwilling to listen to them and most of the time, these are conservative people that are more often than not brainwashed into Christianity. However, the truth of the matter is that I listen to everyone and there is nothing anyone can say that I am not willing to listen to. I do seem to be a bit more wary of this because I do have a limited number of spoons being an emotionally disabled person but I try not to disengage from conversation so quickly as I am used to simply because I want to know more. I want to listen and possibly, if your information is right, I want to change and improve. However, when most conservative people talk to me, they are unwilling to consider my viewpoint and it’s at that moment that I start to engage because it is not a fair exchange of ideas then.
8. Must constantly improve – This is a very important rule for me, both as a person and as a transsexual person because I feel that this transition is still a beautiful opportunity to try to ride for as long as I can and improve myself in new and exciting ways. I believe that as a person and as an open-minded person, I should strive to constantly improve and I am both excited and anxious to see what Jessica Sideways becomes a year, 5 years and 10 years from now. I do have to say that I am constantly doing new practices and trying new things in order to try to constantly improve myself.
9. Respect your inspiration – I respect all of the people that I have learned from or been inspired by and I think that makes me a much better person in the long run. That does not necessarily mean that I agree with all of their viewpoints, some of them are Christians and that is just simply a horrible belief system that I could never really get behind. However, I do respect these people for inspiring me or teaching me in the ways that they have. The amount of people who have inspired and taught me over the course of my life time are quite numerous and too many for an (already long enough) single blog post. However, where ever you are, thank you very much!

No related posts.

Tags: 9 rules, 9rules, education, growth, learning, personal growth, rules, self-improvement, Transsexuality