YOU !

[FiftyTwo]

Trust and Loyalty is for suckers, not forgetting Honesty and Integrity.

I used to be a sucker, but my former wife, my former children and my former IFA taught me different.

Edited October 9, 2013 by FiftyTwo

[Suradit69]

What is yours ?

Mine is not to prioritize rules that I think are important in life and pretend that I am being deep and philosophical. Claiming that loyalty or integrity or honesty or whatever is my ruling mantra just makes me sound like a outdated hippie, especially since most people would happily be disloyal or corrupt or dishonest if it served their purposes and would make things worse by fabricating some feeble justification for what they did.

You deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important, not some single rule or small set of numbered rules and you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards.

Edited October 9, 2013 by Suradit69

[dotpoom]

" Things are as bad or as good as you're attitude is towards them"

With regards to money........remember always..............."There are no shops in Heaven".

[klubex99]

What is yours ?

Mine is not to prioritize rules that I think are important in life and pretend that I am being deep and philosophical. Claiming that loyalty or integrity or honesty or whatever is my ruling mantra just makes me sound like a outdated hippie, especially since most people would happily be disloyal or corrupt or dishonest if it served their purposes and would make things worse by fabricating some feeble justification for what they did.

You deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important, not some single rule or small set of numbered rules and you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards.

2 small points.

You say you have no single rule in life... then you hit us with 'deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important'..... So what do you consider that if not a single rule?

second... 'you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards'..... When your opening paragraph is basically a total judgmental rant of other posters on this thread.

Then you end with an image parody of 'hypocrite'.... Is the irony lost on me or what?

[weegee]

What is yours ?

Mine is not to prioritize rules that I think are important in life and pretend that I am being deep and philosophical. Claiming that loyalty or integrity or honesty or whatever is my ruling mantra just makes me sound like a outdated hippie, especially since most people would happily be disloyal or corrupt or dishonest if it served their purposes and would make things worse by fabricating some feeble justification for what they did.

You deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important, not some single rule or small set of numbered rules and you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards.

Absolutely the best post on this thread ! IMO

[klubex99]

What is yours ?

Mine is not to prioritize rules that I think are important in life and pretend that I am being deep and philosophical. Claiming that loyalty or integrity or honesty or whatever is my ruling mantra just makes me sound like a outdated hippie, especially since most people would happily be disloyal or corrupt or dishonest if it served their purposes and would make things worse by fabricating some feeble justification for what they did.

You deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important, not some single rule or small set of numbered rules and you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards.

Absolutely the best post on this thread ! IMO

So the irony was definitely lost on you then

[cpofc]

What is yours ?

Mine is not to prioritize rules that I think are important in life and pretend that I am being deep and philosophical. Claiming that loyalty or integrity or honesty or whatever is my ruling mantra just makes me sound like a outdated hippie, especially since most people would happily be disloyal or corrupt or dishonest if it served their purposes and would make things worse by fabricating some feeble justification for what they did.

You deal with each new situation as it comes to you based on your life experiences and those things you consider important, not some single rule or small set of numbered rules and you should avoid judging others by those alleged lofty standards.

Absolutely the best post on this thread ! IMO

So the irony was definitely lost on you then

I was thinking exactly the same thing.

In reply to the OP - one word.

Character

[phantomfiddler]

Frivolous nonsense ! The one and single most important rule in life is ..... Learn to swim Trust, money, loyalty, trivia when you are 5ft 10ins and find yourself in 6 feet of water !

[Beetlejuice]

This thread describes 2 problems that face expats living in Thailand today:

Too much time spent isolated with their thoughts and too much time to think too deeply about too much.

The wise man says; take up a hobby, watch a few movies to escape the realities once in a while, or get out and socialise more often, or in other words, get a life.

[Phronesis]

We come into this world naked and we go out the same way. The fundamental trait a person carries with them between those two events is integrity.

Yep...

The only thing that anyone has in life is their integrity.

It is tested each and every day as the world around us pulls and tugs at us to get its way.

Youth, wealth, possession all get taken away from you.

The only thing you can hope to have when you draw those last few breaths is your integrity.

Good luck...

[Dap]

My only value is my word.

[CaitlinHappyMeal]

I always follow rule number 6 ?

[klubex99]

This thread describes 2 problems that face expats living in Thailand today:

Too much time spent isolated with their thoughts and too much time to think too deeply about too much.

The wise man says; take up a hobby, watch a few movies to escape the realities once in a while, or get out and socialise more often, or in other words, get a life.

You are right.

I tend to have a couple of days blast, because I am doing almost all my current work online, so I keep TV in the background. It's my way of communicating within my own language and in some cases school of thought. It also gives me brief periods of relief from the drudgery of my work.

In a few days, my work is quite a lot offline, so I will use TV less. But like to keep my hand in the game.

If you catch my drift.

[tingtongteesood]

Dance like nobody's watching

[Emdog]

Treat others the way you would like to be treated. That covers areas of honesty, integrity, fairness, etc. Unless you are a masochist! I am sorry one poster came out the other side thinking needs to be untrustworthy, dishonest, greedy etc because it was done to him. I have had that done to me, with just the opposite effect. It confirmed that I do not wish to be like those who inflict pain for personal gain, and live my life accordingly. Life is hard enough without adding to the <deleted>.

[slipperylobster]

Adventure... making it all interesting. When I draw my last breath, I wish to remember that I did one hell of a lot...

[Meddle]

i strive to avoid embracing pithy concepts on the interwebs

Shakespeare's alive & well all ;-)

[n210mp]

Living a life with some " Moral " standards!

[hellodolly]

money is the only rule, the real world not the fantasy in your heads

There are a lot of very rich guys that have gone to meet their maker early that might argue your point of view.

And a lot of them did it on purpose.

[hellodolly]

We come into this world naked and we go out the same way. The fundamental trait a person carries with them between those two events is integrity.

+1

Personal integrity. It's one of the few things we have control over. All the rest is subject to the whims and caprices of the world. Without it. We have no friends and even family will desert you in the end. Money, property and the rest of the material stuff is nice, but ultimately unimportant in living a good life. I spent a lifetime dealing with people who sought their identity and well being through their possessions. Most were not very happy campers. Only a few were genuinely happy and they all were people of integrity and knew it wasn't their "stuff" that mattered, but their human relationships.

I have also found that things go much better when you do not take yourself too seriously.

+1

Do unto others....

+1

[little mary sunshine]

Always be a FRIEND to a FRIEND.

Do your best to take care of your health...You only have one chance at good health.

Always prepare for old age. In old age, you only have two choices, being envied or

pittied.....Always choose envy.

[chris1101]

As one of my ancestors is quoted as having said at the Battle of Waterloo (1815) - "keep your powder dry and your bowels open!!"

[super22k]

Never tell the truth. Seriously though,aways be striving for something. Human beings are at their best when they are striving for something. How does the song go"after you get what you want,you dont want it"

[marc651]

Since such an important question has been raised, I feel obliged to answer. My number one rule:

HAVE FUN!

Edited October 9, 2013 by marc651

[SeabagsFull]

Personal integrity. It's one of the few things we have control over. All the rest is subject to the whims and caprices of the world. Without it. We have no friends and even family will desert you in the end. Money, property and the rest of the material stuff is nice, but ultimately unimportant in living a good life. I spent a lifetime dealing with people who sought their identity and well being through their possessions. Most were not very happy campers. Only a few were genuinely happy and they all were people of integrity and knew it wasn't their "stuff" that mattered, but their human relationships.

I have also found that things go much better when you do not take yourself too seriously.

To Dogbreath post #18, I mostly agree with you on the surface. But, ... not taking yourself too seriously is oxymoron to "personal integrity," though I suppose you could say that your personal integrity allows for exceptions to your standing by your personal integrity . Two examples:

1. I grew up with a characteristic of never ever giving up. E.g., when I began treatment for an illness, I tried to maintain jogging though I knew that I might not be able to continue for eleven months. At the four-month point with my TSH level at 84.5 (comatose for most people), I began doing my 30+-minute jog one morning when I just felt I could go no further; true to my personal integrity, I decided I must at least finish the daily jog; I did.

So, when my Thai wife & I embarked on our first 55Km walk attempt from Udon Thani to Nong Khai, we did so without any preparation & only 10 months after I had major back surgery. I passed out at the 3Km-to-go point & even saw the preverbial white light, when my wife brought me back. After a short rest, I insisted we continue. One Km later, & I felt dizzy & had to stop again. As I tried to convince my wife that we only had 2Km to go, I could see tears in her eyes as she begged me to stop. She had watched both an uncle & cousin die, & her grandmother had lived with cancer for several years. In that moment. I felt her pain so much so that I decided that my personal integrity was not worth more than her happiness. So she called friends who were waiting for us to come & get us.

2. My personal integrity regarding other human life is that no one should be bought, & so I found myself resisting the dowry thing based on personal principles. As we got closer to the wedding day & I saw first-hand how this reluctance had effected other couples & their families, I began to realize that our wedding day should be one that my wife remembers for the rest of her life as a wonderous & happy occassion. In other words, the question of a dowry had nothing to do with me or my principles & had everthing to do with my wife's happiness & my acceptance into her family. Please don't pull this discussion off topic with a debate about dowries; there is another thread on that subject.

Of course, U.S. politics provides examples of people standing up for their personal integrity at the expense of the rest of the country. Is that really fair?

I have one & only one moral: to not intentionally cause harm to another human being except minimally for self- or family-defense. I really wish I could extend that as my wife does to all life, but that's that (e.g., I hate mosquitoes & kill them, & I eat fish & pork & chicken).

I am an explorer, so I try to view life as though we are all part of the same soul; hurting someone else is akin e.g., to hurting yourself. As an explorer, I try to respect cultures, traditions, & manerisms without subjecting them to some moral standard; I mean, who am I that I could judge someone else's non-violent behavior?

This all leads to karma. It has bode well for me.

[Skint]

He who stays and tries his best, goes down the road like all the rest.

[mca]

Personal integrity is the number one thing to strive for and is what has got me through most of my life. It involves trust and your word.

Hear hear. I'd no more stitch someone up than go to the moon. My entire family are the same. People whose word is their bond. It reaps dividends as my parents are now comfortably retired, Jag driving, take a 5 star holiday anytime and anywhere they want in the world folks whose business was based on being people known to be completely trustworthy.

Edited October 9, 2013 by mca

[cup-O-coffee]

The Rule: BE. To be an overcomer. I need to learn to listen to my built-in, still, small voice, and endeavor to be an Overcomer.

That means to hear that still small voice and it will navigate me through my life accordingly and within the plan. Do not confuse this with religion of any sort. This is, I believe, a reality which exists outside of a man-made religion. Moreover, man has taken that reality and tagged it with labels and performance based acceptance.

Get back to my inner self and find that still small voice if I can't hear it. Give in to it. It is a great teacher, comforter, forgiver, coach, etc. Do not confuse it with god or the devil: ...another man-made contrivance to keep me under ball and chain. Remove my fears and strap on a bit of temperance and caution and overcome.

I believe I will go on after I step out of this body, or Earth suit. I believe that the things I have not overcome in this plane of existence will be there to be overcome in the next stage of things. Do not confuse this with reincarnation. I do not believe I will come back to this boot camp level and do it all again.

I simply can no longer will myself to believe in a divine being, or some evil power. It does not take anyone but a child to see this, and yet children can be deceived by the voice of men and become slaves to fear and false obedience. To be thus enslaved is a waste of life and to run parallel to the truth.

Somehow, all things are interconnected. I haven't even begun to realize how much, or to what degree, but I do know this: what goes around comes around, but at such a level of accuracy and portion that the lesson given fits the lesson learned. And if not? It's round two until I overcome. I am not surprised that a lot of things which bothered me before don't bother me now, and it comes naturally and without any feelings of guilt?

My faith in these beliefs is such that, if I am on the wrong path and have false securities, life will sort me out and I'll get back on the right path if I listen to that still small voice.

There is some, incredibly strong equalizing force out there that seems to bring balance to all things; yet I do not believe that it is all going to happen in this one plane of existence.

So, my rule is this: I need to learn to listen to my built-in, still, small voice, and endeavor to be an Overcomer. There is no end to this process. To be an overcomer is like a bird on the wing. If I stop being, then I fall. It is an eternal process that I need to learn to engage in until it is my being.

I do not believe that there is any end point to my existence. I do not believe that we arrive at a paradise or a hell and are compelled to remain there if we do not wish to. This is too... too man-made and shallow. It is too obvious that someone wants to control me with fear or bait me with reward. This belief is approved by my still, small voice. There is no guilt in telling man's god to get another job, or to tell man's devil to sod off.

Believing in a heaven or a hell means there is an ending to my story. How stuffy and religious is that? I am a part of a never-ending story in which I am accountable and responsible for all I am, do and have, and life will guide me and sort me and balance me when and if I use that still small voice and keep my wings going... To overcome.

Simply my take on things.

Edited October 9, 2013 by cup-O-coffee

[spiritrace]

^{Lot of good points except Greed, it will catch up with you, it always does.}

^{Mine? MODERATION}

[BruceSmith]

My stepfather was an architect. When he was in hospital dying he beckoned me over and whispered in my ear - "Never have a flat Roof".

Wise words...

My father told me:

Never marry a woman with big hands

Makes your pecker look small.

I sort of like this one:

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff ... and it's all small stuff

Edited October 9, 2013 by BruceSmith