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LIFE LESSONS AND GLOBAL RULES

Following is a compilation of all the “Life Lessons” and “Global Rules” that appear in Two Laps Around the World:

Life Lessons

1. Our life as a whole can best be understood as a progression of smaller lives. Just as the earth has its seasons, our lives consist of a series of cycles, each with its own strand of interests and opportunities. Perhaps, in the end, what we all really need is some type of sabbatical experience every seven or so years in order to reflect on our lives and refocus our energies.

2. Each person’s life has a distinctive pattern and purpose. Our lives often make more sense than we realize, but we rarely take the time to put all of our experiences into context. All too often, our gaze remains fixed on the current moment. We can see where we are, but we don’t always perceive where we’ve come from or where we’re going. The rhythm and meaning of our existence, however, becomes more comprehensible when we can look at our lives with some detachment from our daily to-do lists.

3. If you want to grow, do something that makes you uncomfortable. If public speaking alarms you, go do it. Or train for a marathon. Go skydiving. Disagree with someone who intimidates you. Go back to school. Drive cross-country by yourself. Get naked on a clothing-optional beach. Start your own business. Leave your job and travel around the world. Don’t do anything stupid or unsafe, obviously, but the point is, once you stare down something that scares you, you become filled with a sense of confidence and freedom. The world feels lighter and less daunting.

4. Life is all about taking that first step, even if it seems risky, and then the next step and the step after that, until we finally reach our desired objective. Every person who crosses the street in Vietnam has to overcome a fear of walking into traffic, every traveler has to conquer a fear of the unknown, and most everyone in life has to deal with a fear of failure or rejection. In each case, all we can do is trust our inner self and have the nerve to take that first step. Sort of like walking into traffic in Hanoi, if you take it one move at a time, go with the flow and allow space for adjustments, it often turns out fine.

5. We are all engaged in a never-ending process of becoming, but the way in which we grow depends on the life experiences we select for ourselves. No one’s life is static and we are all perpetually evolving, whether we are trying to or not. So if we want to be better, more confident, more interesting people in the future, then we need to choose worthwhile experiences in the present.

6. A successful person isn’t one who never fails, but one who knows how to persevere in spite of setbacks. You certainly learn from successes, but you often learn more from failures. So whether you’re trying to do well in business, athletics or just life, it helps to know that you can pick yourself up again whenever you get knocked down.

7. If you want to lead a life of wonder and not regret, then you first have to unearth your passion. Everyone has a passion. Do you want to sing, paint, teach, travel, dance, run, act, write, grow spiritually, tend to the sick, engage in public service? We all have multiple goals and interests, certainly, but we do tend to have one or two things that we are passionate about above all else. And it’s not always what we’re currently doing. So if we want to know our life has been well-lived, we need to unearth that passion and chase it.

8. Life is a choice. What we choose is up to us. Every day, we are faced with choices. Do we base our decisions on love or on fear? Do we approach each day with passion or indifference? Do we take chances for happiness or do we play it safe and risk regret? Do we look ahead with optimism or back with bitterness? The choices we make on these questions shape everything else in our life. Our families and our careers, our successes and our failures. If we don’t like the thoughts that are controlling our life, we always have the freedom to choose other thoughts.

Global Rules

1. It is only by interacting with others, and even debating them, that we can ever begin to know each other. We are stuck in a world in which too many people believe they are absolutely right. Which, of course, means that anyone who holds a different opinion has to be wrong. But absolutism leads nowhere, except to conflict. It’s not that everyone should always agree, but rather that we should be able to reach some sort of common understanding of our differences. We should at least be able to appreciate what it is that we disagree about. Most travelers, I believe, understand this. Many politicians, unfortunately, do not.

2. We are all silently and permanently molded by the assumptions of the culture in which we are raised. We cannot change this about ourselves, nor can we change anyone else’s cultural perceptions. This means, of course, that if we want other people to understand and appreciate our way of life, then we are obligated to understand and appreciate theirs.

3. Religions are different because cultures are different, but at heart they are all seeking the same thing, which is an understanding of the transcendent. Each faith seems to undertake the same search, ask the same questions, and perhaps even arrive at the same answers in different forms and different words. All of humanity is longing to touch the divine and we find inspiration wherever we believe we will, in whatever place or faith we already believe is blessed.

4. Our perception of the world depends on our perspective of the world. If you live in India, you embrace uncertainty; if you live in Germany, you embrace order. If you live in New York, you’re in the center of the world and anything is possible for those who take initiative. If you live on Easter Island, you’re isolated from the world and have to rely on your community. If you live in Ushuaia, Argentina, you’re looking up at the planet; if you live in Hammerfest, Norway, you’re looking down. We may believe the world is an objective place, but our experience of it is still subjective and our perceptions are influenced by where we live.

5. The world would be a saner place if more travelers went into politics. Consider the different perspective government leaders would have if they’d spent months of their lives taking buses and
trains through other countries, staying in local hotels and conversing with foreigners in bars and cafés. Envision a world where presidents and prime ministers had experience as private citizens wandering through Asia, Africa, Latin America or the Middle East simply because they found it interesting. Think of how their own personal experiences with different cultures, faiths and worldviews would influence policy discussions.

6. We have to resist the urge to label entire societies based on the actions of extremists. It’s easy for fear to take hold of us when our impressions of a country are based mostly on televised images of rage and carnage. That doesn’t excuse the senselessness of those individuals who resort to violent tactics, but we should know this usually represents only a small percentage of the population. Most individuals around the world are peaceful, caring human beings with a heartfelt sense of a shared humanity.

7. Each culture in the world has something unique to contribute to our global civilization. If each person’s life has a unique pattern and purpose, then the same may be true for every culture. Perhaps we need to reorient our thinking and, instead of focusing on what separates us, begin to consider what each culture offers to the world. Imagine if we were all able to understand and learn from, for example, the Indian acceptance of chaos and uncertainty, the Cambodian reverence for the extended family, Turkish sense of hospitality, the French taste for pleasure, the American optimism and belief in the future, the Thai devotion to faith, the Japanese loyalty to the group or the Kenyan appreciation for nature. Imagine.

Excerpted from Two Laps Around the World by Bob Riel