How To Create Your Own...
OPERATING MANUAL FOR LIFE
by Rel Davis
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Instructions and Book One -- LIFE AND POWER
WRITING YOUR OWN OPERATING MANUAL
Read this manual through at least once.
The second time through, mark those suggestions that most appeal to you.
Mark through (in pencil) any suggestions that don't seem quite right for you.
Anything you read that really sounds right to you,
Write it down in the blank pages at the end, to start your own operating manual.
Anything you read that doesn't sound right,
Ignore it.
It might have been good for me or someone else,
But that doesn't mean it is good for you.
Don't stop searching.
An Operating Manual for Life is a lifetime enterprise.
BOOK ONE
LIFE AND POWER
My thoughts lead to decisions which lead to actions.
Power comes from the ability to:
Think the way I choose to think...
Make the decisions I want to make...
Act the way I want to act.
To learn how to act the way I want,
I must first learn how to think.
1.
You already have inside you all the wisdom and all the knowledge you'll ever need.
It's true.
You don't have to come to me or anyone else to attain wisdom.
It's already there inside you.
All you need is to learn how to listen to yourself.
Open yourself up. Block out the outside voices.
Somewhere, deep inside you, is a still small voice that has all the answers.
Some people call that voice your Oversoul . . .
The part of you that is also a part of everything in the Universe.
A good teacher doesn't give you all the answers, but teaches you the questions to ask yourself.
2.
You are not your thoughts.
You are the person thinking the thoughts.
Most of us think we are the same as our thoughts.
Because I'm afraid (thinking about fear), I think I'm a coward.
Because I'm thinking about failing, I think I'm a failure.
Because I think the way I was taught to think, I think that's the only possible way for me.
People tell me all the time: "That's just the way I am."
As if that meant they can never be anything else.
But you aren't your own thoughts.
You are the person inside your mind who is thinking those thoughts.
Stop a minute and think about the thinking process.
Who is thinking those thoughts?
Once you realize that you are the thinker, you discover you can choose how and what you want to think!
If you can learn to think any thoughts you want to think, you can become anyone you want to be.
3.
You decide every moment how to react to every situation.
Most people seem to think of themselves as if they were robots.
Some one says something and makes them angry.
Some one else does something and makes them upset.
As if they had no control over the situation.
No one can make you angry or upset or sad or happy.
You decide to be those things.
I can't control what you do, for example.
If you want to call me names, or hit me, or lie about me behind my back, there's not a lot I can do about it.
But I can decide how to react to what you do or say.
And if I choose to laugh instead of get angry, that's in my power.
That's real power!
To react the way I want to and not the way other people would like me to.
4.
You are ultimately free to do anything you want to do.
Anything!
As long as you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions.
Would you like to fly without wings of any kind?
Jump off a tall building. You'll "fly" quite effectively. Until you hit the street. That's the consequence!
You could also fly without wings by sky-diving -- carrying along an extra set of "wings" for the final stages of flight!
But you could do it.
You could do a lot of things you don't realize you can do.
All you have to do is take steps to do them.
Most things won't happen today.
If you want to be rich you'll have to wait a while.
Give up spending any money except for investment.
(No movies. No booze. No parties. No nothing.)
In a few years, working several jobs and saving all your money, you really could be wealthy.
Most of us simply don't want to pay the price.
But all of us could do it if we really wanted to.
Next time you catch yourself saying I can't..., change it to I don't want to..., and you'll be more honest with yourself.
5.
You have never made a mistake in your life.
Every decision you ever made was done with the best information available to you at the time.
Most people don't wake up in the morning and say:
"I think I'll make a mistake today."
We do everything we do because we think it's the right thing to do.
We just don't have all the information, that's all.
If you ever waited to get all the information you needed to make a decision...
You'd never get around to making any decisions!
You say you made a mistake getting into a bad relationship?
At the time, it looked like a good relationship, didn't it?
Or you never would have gotten into it.
It only looks like a mistake in hindsight.
We don't make decisions in hindsight!
We have to make every decision right here...
Right now...
With the information available to us.
6.
Not making a decision is the same as making a decision.
Don't think you can escape responsibility by not making a decision.
You're still making a decision.
If you decide not to act to get out of a bad relationship...
You are really deciding to stay in the relationship.
If you can't decide what to do...
You are really deciding to do nothing.
One way or another, you have to make a decision
7.
We are creatures of will.
What you decide determines who you are...
And the type of world you inhabit.
By the act of will -- by making a decision -- you create your world.
Decide to live a loving life, really concerned for the people around you...
And you will find yourself surrounded by loving, caring people.
The world you create will be a loving, caring world.
But decide to live a negative life, using other people...
And you will be surrounded by people who use people, and people who are accustomed to being used.
The world you create will be a negative one.
You have no choice but to choose your world.
Do it wisely.
8.
Your birthright as a human being is...
Total Freedom
and
Total Responsibility
Because you are free to do anything in this life...
As long as you are willing to accept the consequences of your actions...
You are totally responsible for everything you do.
You can't escape the responsibility any more than you can escape the necessity of making choices.
No one makes you do anything.
No one makes you angry, or upset, or happy.
As a human being, you have the freedom to choose how to respond to anything someone else does.
A millionaire once had two sons, an optimist and a pessimist.
One Christmas he decided to break each of them of their obsession.
He filled the pessimist child's room with every toy imaginable, everything every child could possibly want.
He filled the optimist child's room with horse manure.
On Christmas morning, he walked into the pessimist's room.
"Is this all there is?" the pessimist asked.
He walked into the optimist's room and the child was running around excitedly, digging in the manure.
"With all this horse manure here," the child said, "there has to be a pony in there somewhere!"
You are absolutely free --
Free to see nothing in a world of plenty,
Or a pony in a room of horse manure.
9.
Your curse as a human being is:
Total Freedom
and
Total Responsibility
We say it's your curse because you can't escape it.
You are totally responsible whether you want to be or not.
You might want to avoid responsibility:
Join some religion and try to make god responsible for you...
Blame everything on your parents, or your spouse, or your children...
Complain about the folks in Washington being the cause of all your problems.
But you simply can't get away from the curse of responsibility.
Try to avoid responsibility and you'll find yourself living in a shallow world.
Like a lot of people today.
10.
You have the freedom to write your own script for this life.
You don't have to go through life living a script written for you by someone else.
Your parents' script: be a success .. be a failure ... be a man ... be a woman.
Your peers' script: hang tough ... be sexy ... get high ... be a "rebel."
Society's script: don't make waves ... get a job ... do as you're told ... be quiet.
You have the power and the ability to write your own script.
You can decide how you will live your life.
You can decide how you'll react to other people.
11.
Decide what you want to be in this life...
And begin acting that way.
It's as simple as that.
If you want to be a happy person...
Begin acting like a happy person acts.
If you want to be a successful person...
Begin acting like a successful person would act.
Don't worry if it doesn't feel right at first.
If you can't make it, fake it! is a valid rule for life.
Make the decision...
And then begin acting that way.
12.
Actions are the only things that count.
Intentions don't mean anything.
Good intentions are meaningless.
You can say you love me all you want...
But until you begin acting as if you cared, it doesn't mean anything to me.
It's the same thing in life.
You can say all you want about how you want to be a good person...
But until you begin acting like a good person, you'll never be one.
Life is action.
13.
There are no great acts.
Only long series of small actions that lead to great results. Don't expect change over night.
Rarely do we make drastic conversions from one lifestyle to another.
Like Saul on the road to Damascus.
Usually, we begin making small changes.
One step at a time.
We begin acting differently in small ways.
One day at a time.
And then, one day, we wake up and realize that we have become totally different people than we were before.
Great revolutions work the same way.
Peace is not won through lighting-bolt action.
During the Vietnam War, a few of us began talking peace.
A dozen at a time would march for peace.
Soon hundreds joined us.
By the time the U.S. left Vietnam, hundreds of thousands marched in Washington.
But the changes began slowly, in the hearts of a few peace-loving people.
This is also how you create your own life.
Small actions consistently performed.
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