Wizard’s Rules

I would like to share THE rules which I try to live by—Wizard’s Rules. Though I’m not much into following rules, I guess it’s somehow necessary to have an “idea” of how one should go about her life. Unlike the Ten Commandments of the One above, which were made to be strictly followed, my ten rules are more like a guide to me. It’s ironic that I find it harder to follow the Rules than it is to abide by the Commandments. I guess it’s because the Wizard’s Rules are based more on logic and reason, while the Commandments are based more on faith and emotion (I’m trying to be as objective here as possible). Take note that, contrary to public opinion (hehe) on my belief, I am not a nonbeliever, though I’m not a practicing Catholic (I’m Catholic since birth). I just do not have much belief (hmmm… violation of a commandment?) in organized religion; there’s just too much (what’s the term?) politics.

I’m not trying to persuade people here or trying to say that the Rules are better than the Commandments, but I think the Rules fit just right in this chaotic world (and to me). So here are the rules (btw, these are taken from a great fantasy series):

People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it’s true, or because they’re afraid it might be true. Peoples’ heads are full of knowledge, facts and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true. People are stupid; they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the easier to fool.

– Though I don’t think people are as stupid as this implies. Try to remove expectations, wishes, and fears, and maybe we will see the “truth.”

The greatest harm can result from the best intentions.

– I’ve done this in oh so many times. It made you all the more guilty because you failed to see what was coming (when you should have).

Passion rules reason.

– Amen.

There was magic in sincere forgiveness. Magic to heal. In forgiveness you grant, and more so in the forgiveness you receive.

– Yes, there is. I guess you have to forgive without expecting apologies or explanations, but isn’t this so hard? Harder is forgiving the world (or you thought it is the world that needs forgiving) for all its violence and cruelty. In anger, there will never be peace of mind (but anger is sometimes what drives people).

Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie.

– Actions speak louder than words. Try hard not to be naive and ignorant, and try not to lie (hehe). (hey, you reached halfway already, hope you keep reading!)

The most important rule there is, the Wizard’s Sixth Rule: The only sovereign you can allow to rule you is reason. The first law of reason is this: what exists, exists, what is, is and from this irreducible bedrock principle, all knowledge is built. It is the foundation from which life is embraced.

– Need I say more?

Life is the future, not the past. The past can teach us, through experience, how to accomplish things in the future, comfort us with cherished memories, and provide the foundation of what has already been accomplished. But only the future holds life. To live in the past is to embrace what is dead. To live life to its fullest, each day must be created anew. As rational, thinking beings, we must use our intellect, not a blind devotion to what has come before, to make rational choices.

– Carpe diem! Life is so short. Let us not dwell on the past or be overly stuck in a moment. Yes, life is hard, but move on. It’s hard to move on, but try, and try harder.

Talga Vassternich. Deserve Victory.

– Be worthy of your dream, if not, dream will remain only a dream.

A contradiction cannot exist in reality. Not in part, nor in whole. To believe in a contradiction is to abdicate your belief in the existence of the world around you and the nature of the things in it, to instead embrace any random impulse that strikes your fancy—to imagine something is real simply because you wish it were. A thing is what it is, it is itself. There can be no contradictions.

– Never have blind faith. Though faith makes us human, and not thinking robots, let us not based our life just on faith. See things for what they are, and believe if there is reason to.