As part of my end of the year gifts showing my appreciation for my students I have written up a book for them entitled 'Mr. Fersch's Rules For Life and other assorted nonsense'. In this book I share many of my beliefs on how we should live our lives with short little blurbs about that belief. I have decided to post some selections from this book here, hopefully you enjoy! If you have any ideas for other rules that should be up there I would love to know. Feel free to e-mail me at onehundredyears@gmail.com! Thanks.
Celebrate someone else every day.
Go out of your way to do something genuinely nice for someone else without expecting anything in return. A truly great world is filled with people who give of themselves selflessly. Make someone a card, say something nice, offer help with something, bake them cookies, recognize them for all they do for you. Anything, no matter how small will make a difference.
Never take yourself too seriously.
The only folks who get embarrassed are the ones who allow themselves to. I’m willing to act a fool because I know who I am and I am comfortable with who I am. The second you stop taking yourself so seriously, you will be able to truly have some fun.
Never allow peer pressure to control your actions.
If someone is trying to pressure you into something you do not naturally want to do it is imperative that you never allow yourself to sacrifice your beliefs to make someone else happy. If you are truly uncomfortable with doing something there is (usually) a good reason for it. If someone is trying to pressure you into doing something that would be good for you that is another story.
Never peer pressure others.
If the people around you are not interested in doing the things you are interested in doing maybe you need to look at whether or not the things you want to do are reasonable. If they are reasonable things to want to do, maybe you need to find a few new people to hang out with who have similar interests as you.
Your dreams are attainable.
There will be many people in your lives who will tell you that the hopes and dreams that you have for the future are unattainable. They are wrong. The only thing that will stop you from realizing your dreams is you. If you care enough, have realistic hopes (since the impossibility of all of you becoming President is fact), and put forth enough effort, you can truly accomplish anything. If you ever have a dream you need help realizing I will happily help you in any manner that I can.
Never grow up.
When people tell you to stop acting like a child it is merely because they have forgotten how superior the outlooks of children are compared to adults. Adults have the benefit of experience and children have the benefit of everything else. What children lack for in wisdom they make up for in humanity, in understanding, in their lack of judgment. Play in the rain, make pretend, befriend new people, imagine, giggle uncontrollably, day dream.
Be more like dogs.
Animals love unconditionally, do not judge, want to protect their loved ones but allow freedom and cherish it, run to the door to say hello, and never put themselves before a loving companion. We could all stand to learn a few lessons from dogs.
Keep an open mind.
The things that you don’t know yet are the things that will make life interesting. When you don’t give things a chance (whether it be a band, a movie, or a person) you are only showing your own fear of what you do not understand. Closed minds controlled by fear lead to hatred. Hatred leads to violence. An open mind quells that fear and hatred and averts that violence.
Compliment others.
Every day you should compliment three different people about something other than their appearance or the things they own. I get it, nice looking people need to be complimented on their appearance but leave that to someone else. Tell someone how great their writing is, how well they threw something in phys. ed., how great of an answer they had in Social Studies. Compliment people on these things and I guarantee you will make at least four people a day smile .
When someone is down, help them up.
When someone is literally on the ground, physically help them to their feet. When someone is metaphorically down (sad, in need, fearful, alone), do what you can to help them back to their feet.
Be a good sport.
Whether it be sports or life in general, treat others in a respectful manner. If you win do it with composure. If you lose do it with dignity. Make signs for your own team and make signs for the opposing team. Cheer on other good sports and let poor sports know that you don’t appreciate their attitude. John Butler is most certainly right when he says; it’s not who breaks the ribbon, it’s how you get across.
Donate anonymously.
If the goal of giving is to help others, then why not do it anonymously? There is little the feels better in life than the ability to help someone else and to be able to be proud of yourself for doing it without expecting any recognition in return.
Go for slow food instead of fast food.
Sure, it is substantially easier to run to McDonald’s and grab a meal that will assist you in gaining weight, but why not opt to try something new? What is the rush anyhow? Are you trying to hurry so you can get back somewhere to sit in front of a television or computer screen? A good long conversation over a long, slow, well made meal is one of the most beautiful things this life has to offer. Take your time to prepare food, take your time in eating food, take your time enjoying the company of those who eat their food with you.
When you say sorry, mean it.
You have control over one person’s behavior in life – yours. When you do something wrong and you feel bad for it, say you are sorry. There is no if, and, or but to it - pride should not get in the way. If you did something wrong you should apologize. If you apologize, you should mean it.
Hold the door open for other people.
This doesn’t mean that you have to go all out like some folks around here do and hold the door every day for large groups of people, you need to consider your needs as well. This does mean that if you can wait ten seconds at a door to hold it open for someone else who is walking towards it, there is no good reason not to. Even if the person isn’t holding anything, even if they’ve never held the door open for you, hold it open for them.
Volunteer.
Everyone is busy but no one is so busy that they have no time that they could take to do something good for others. Take one, two, or three hours a week and dedicate that to making the world around you a better place. Volunteer at an animal shelter, help at a nursing home, pick up trash, organize a community yard sale to benefit the local rec. center. If everyone volunteered just one hour a week, four hours a month, 52 hours a year, how much better of a place would this world be?
Homemade is better than store bought.
Whether you are a skilled baker or only know how to cook pasta, an artist or can barely draw stick figures, a potter or you haven’t played with clay since you were eight, homemade is better than store bought. Even if you write a poem that sounds more like a frosting advertisement than Robert Frost, the effort put into writing it should be enough for anyone who truly appreciates you. A painting you buy may be worth a thousand dollars but one you paint for someone else is worth a thousand words.
Neaten up your vocabulary.
Like and um are filler words. Folks use these because they speak quickly and talk without thinking much of the time. I used to say that people talk just to hear their own voices yet I have changed that over the years to now believing that people talk to try to have their voices heard. In a world where there is so much talking done, people don’t listen to each other as they should. When you have little to say and talk a lot folks will stop listening to you. When you say little yet say a lot with your words, everyone will want to hear what you have to say.
A butt is part of your body and but is a dirty word.
When you respond to what someone else says and you use the word but, you are nullifying everything the other person said. An example. If you walked up to me and said that you think that the Jonas Brothers are the best band around and my response was, ‘Sure, they are pretty talented but Led Zeppelin is better.’ I’m not just saying I disagree, I’m saying you are wrong. It is saying that my opinion is more valid than yours. So unless you are talking about what you sit on, lose the word but from your vocabulary.