Life's Little Instruction Book

I have been considering a new way to make sure that I work on this blog everyday like I truly want to, but it is still not a guarantee. Anyways, I have this book titled Life's Little Instruction Book by H. Jackson Brown, Jr., and within this book is, "511 suggestions, observations, and reminders on how to live a happy and rewarding life." I plan on daily looking at one or two of these and seeing how I feel about them. The copyright date on the book is from 1991, so I am not sure how relevant some of these are. We will find out over the next year as I take a look at some of these instructions and see how they can affect, or is it effect, our everyday lives. Anyways, on with the first few!

"1. Compliment three people everyday."

I try to do this whenever I am sitting at the front desk at my work. I find that doing this is a real encouragement to people, but it seems a daily task that has slipped out of the minds and everyday sincerity of people and society as a whole. Life used to be different than it is now, and with that there has been a strong sense of community lost. Not only was it that you once knew everyone's name, but you would sit and have a small chit-chat keep the acquaintances up. Compliments on the simple and little things seemed to change the everyday conversation easily.

Now, we run across more people daily than I would expect people did 30, let alone 50, years ago. To say a small compliment to three people in a day should be easy, but in this society people are too fast paced and they are too quick to get on with everything that they need to do that this art is dying. People and small compliments to a person, whether friend or stranger, seems to have been left to the wayside. It matters not that this small simple compliment could change around someone, anyone's day, all that matters is that we are getting done what we need to as fast as possible so that we can move on with our day and tasks. The old style of a slow life seems to have slipped away to the fast-paced business days and with this we have love an era that we may never get back.

To take the time to pay three small compliments a day is maybe two minutes total out of your day. There is no reason that someone cannot take the time to give that small confidence to someone else.

"2. Have a dog."

I think that someone should tell my father about this rule because right now we are at the point where he is refusing to let me get a dog. There is no elaboration on this comment in the book, but I have a strong feeling that there are many benefits to having a dog. The first option for me would not be sitting at home alone most nights. It is nice to have company when no one else around and a dog is usually enough work with the walks, feeding, playing, and pottying that it is like having company there with you. That is one of the benefits of a dog just off hand that I can think of. I do not plan on looking at the statistics and the actual numbers, but it is said that having a dog helps you live longer. Who could ever complain with that? There isn't much else that I can say on the topic. Well, I am sure that there is, but I think it is obvious that I agree with this one.