As many of you know, a new Louisiana law would put biblical rules in every public school classroom in the state even though it violates the idea of the separation of church and state. The Republican Governor of the state has suggested that many teachers are brainwashing kids with secularism, so posting the 10 Commandments on the wall helps to balance the extreme left-wing politics of most teachers. While this will get dealt with by the courts, I’d suggest Louisiana teachers put other documents on the wall around the biblical text. How about MLK Jr. “I Have a Dream ” speech framed? Or the Ten Precepts of Taoism? Or maybe Ken Wilbur’s stages of emotional maturation: (a) Grow Up by moving through the early stages of emotional maturing; (b) Clean Up by doing shadow-work; (c) Wake Up by doing spiritual practice; and (d) Show Up by serving humanity in the world.
Or, better yet, what if each student posted their Ten Commitments as an exercise in helping them to know their own mind, heart and soul and to embrace their individuality? The ultimate middle-aged skill is knowing what you want from life so let’s help these kids accelerate their path to that awareness. We spend so much of our first half of adulthood taste-testing life based upon conventional wisdom, social pressure, and family obligation. Why not teach kids the ability to know what’s important to them based upon their own conscience?
Understanding what you truly want will get you farther in life than talent or hard work. It gives you agency, and when you feel that kind of influence over your life, you can handle disappointment when it arises, because you realize you acted on no one’s terms but your own. Once you know what you want from life, you are better able to give back to life.
Given that eight of the Ten Commandments are “should not” statements, I decided to create my own Ten Commitments of what I’m committing to do. You can do the same. Here’s my list.
- I commit to living a life more focused on my eventual eulogy than my current resume.
- I show up with a passionate engagement in life because, that way, people will notice my energy more than my wrinkles.
- I assume best intentions in people, unless they’ve been proven untrustworthy.
- I follow Gandhi’s advice: “Live as if you were going to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were going to live forever.”
- I try to be curious, not judgmental (subscribing to the “Ted Lasso” school of philosophy).
- I seek “noble experiments” that will help me discover something new (even though I will likely make lots of mistakes).
- I learn from my mistakes because that’s how I grow my wisdom.
- I embrace my emotions, as they’re my best evidence that I’m human.
- I don’t chase happiness. I practice gratitude, and happiness is the natural result.
- I remember that my most valuable sense is my sense of humor as it’s something I still possess even if I’ve lost everything else.
-Chip