Instructions for Life
2 min readOct 21, 2020
One evening when I came home from college for the weekend back in 2015, my grandfather was going through my grandmother’s stuff. By that time, she had been gone for two years. A lot of her stuff still laid in the drawers and closet, and still do to this day. My mom, aunt, and I found my grandfather shuffling through her stuff looking for her rings, when we came across this piece of looseleaf paper that had “Instructions for Life” written across it. I made a copy of it, and have had it hanging in my room since that night. I look at it each day and think of it as a message from my grandmother in heaven. These were her instructions for me to follow; my guardian angel.
- Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
- Smile when picking up the phone. the caller will hear it in your voice.
- Spend some time alone.
- Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
- Don’t just listen to what someone is saying. Listen to why they are saying it.
- Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
- Mind your own business.
- Don’t trust anyone who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss.
- Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
- If you make sufficient money, put it to use helping others while you are living. It’s wealth's greatest satisfaction.
- Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
- When you say, “I love you,” mean it.
- When you say, “I’m sorry,” look the person in the eye.
- Never laugh at anyone’s dreams. People who don't have dreams don’t have much.
- Love deeply and passionately. You may get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely.
- Don’t judge people by their relatives or by the life they were born into.
- When someone asks you a question you don’ want to answer, smile, and ask, “Why do you want to know?”
- When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
- Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
- Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
