Five Rules for Happiness

I have a printed card stuck in the mirror in the room where I meditate in the morning. The mirror is over the shelf onto which I dump everything out of my pockets at the end of the day. So, even mornings when I don't find the time to meditate (which seems like every morning lately -- must do something about that), I see the card and read what's printed on it. I also that I think about what's on the card frequently even when I'm not looking at it. Maybe it's become kind of a mantra for me. Certainly it's become a touchstone.

I can't take credit for this. The card was given to me by John Grimaud, who helped me a lot in getting through a very rough patch a while back. He said something like "Follow these rules and you'll always be happy." I'm was pretty skeptical at the time, but on reflection, it has seemed to work pretty well for me. See what you think.

Grimaud's Five Rules for Happiness:
1. Don't sweat the small stuff.
2. It's all small stuff.
3. You can't always get what you want. (Jagger's theorem)
4. Nothing lasts forever.
5. Nothing is as bad as it seems. (Dad's Rule)