You must set your own rules
That’s because YOUR reality is subjective
Your rules STILL account for the reality
It’s just your subjective reality
And much of your subjective reality is OBJECTIVE REALITY
Because you interact with the world
Any part of the reality you interacted with is objective — and NOW has ALSO become subjective
You can take someone else’s rules
It doesn’t mean those are “not my own rules”
They can be your own rules — if they pertain to the SHARED aspects of reality
You should take the rules from others ALL THE TIME
Because those rules have been refined over eons
You should take the rules from others ALL THE TIME
Because abiding by their explicit rules can often get you what you yourself want
You should not pretend however that the rules ACCOUNT FOR THE REALITY — if they don’t
Whether it’s the objective reality,
or your subjective reality
the moment a rule doesn’t account for reality — it is utterly useless
Anything that deviates from the reality is not useful but harmful
Obviously, by definition
You should take your rules very very very seriously
And then there’s not much seriousness about everyone else’s rules
UNLESS you made those rules your own
Unless you CHOSE to care
And of course when you are so profoundly grounded in your own VALUE SYSTEM,
it’s not so easy for some minor nuisance to frustrate you
It’s not so easy for some nonsense to annoy you
It’s not so easy for someone to embarrass you, belittle you, intimidate you
OR validate you
You’re self-validated
Your own rules and your adherence to them are what validates you
And of course not much of the worldly nonsense can “go wrong“ — unless you DECIDED to value it, unless you made it your internal rule
And likely you didn’t make a rule out of stuff that’s not entirely under your control
And thus anything that’s not entirely under your control becomes quite ineffectual at rattling you
You notice the board
You don’t identify with the board
You identify with the moves
You notice the board and there’s nothing to fucking say, just the next move
Someone has a problem? You’ll only explain your next move
Someone doesn’t like you? I don’t see what it changes about your next move
Something went to shit? This is merely a new move that you have to figure out
The world is utter chaos and you’ve no clue what is going on? You still can only MAKE YOUR NEXT MOVE, where you’ve ASCERTAINED you have the edge, you have control, you ARE RESPONSIBLE
YOU TURN TO THE RULES — YOUR RULES — AND MAKE YOUR MOVE
It’s no coincidence being so placid and grounded makes you look profoundly attractive, petty as it sounds
We all know power when we see it
If nothing can bother you — clearly you’re dancing to a different tune
Too powerful to even notice the buzz of the mosquitoes
And you are indeed
Only if you have your OWN rules