A friend sent me this the other day. It is a lovely sentiment – excellent lessons to strive for – but it ended with one of those, “Send this to 0-4 friends for a nice day, 5-10 friends for a blender, 11-18 friends for a new car” or some such nonsense.
I’ve hated chain letters ever since someone gave me one in Jr.high and I threw it away. When I went home that day there was an eviction notice on our door, my parents hadn’t told us that we’d lost our house and it was to be sold in a sheriff’s auction. Damn that chain letter. If only I’d passed it along to 5 friends I might have sailed through high school with good hair, no zits and 20 pounds lighter. Oh, well, live and learn!
So here’s the instant karma. Hmmmm, I wonder what I’ll get if thousands see this on my site… A vacation in Paris? A thousand? Who am I kidding…
The email begins, “This is what the Dalai Lama has to say for 2005” [then there’s the standard warning that this message must leave your hands within 96 hours…] It sounds more to me like a motivational after dinner speech, but what do I know…
1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
3. Follow the three R’s – Respect for self, Respect for others and Responsibility for your actions.
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck
5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly
6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great relationship.
7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
8. Spend some time alone every day.
9. Open arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
15. Be gentle with the earth.
16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
19. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.
Somehow I just can’t see the Dalai Lama sending this email out – it just feels too – I don’t know – Desiderada. Maybe I’m wrong perhaps he’s started a line of greeting cards, too? At any rate, the sentiment is nice, and worth working toward.
I Love LA!
Oh – and I just booked my flight – I’ll be out in LA from 10/23 – 10/27 to tape another episode of Knitty Gritty. Woohoo! I wonder if I’ll be there to attend the famous SnB with Crazy Aunt Purl…?