At 14, her life seemed out of control. She was making bad grades, bad decisions, and bad friends. She was not uncooperative but certainly did not understand what was to be gained from counseling.
I asked her, “Have you ever seen a car driving down a Texas highway on a hot day in August with its windows rolled down?”
“Yes,” she answered.
“Why are the windows down?” I asked.
“The air conditioning is broken,” she answered.
“Why don’t they fix it?” I asked.
“They don’t have the money,” She answered.
There is one more question, “Why don’t they have money?”
Let me answer that question for the reader. Some have bad luck, but for the great majority that is not the real problem. The real problem is that we spend money on things we don’t need to impress people who don’t really care, then when an emergency arises, we are out of funds. That is a rule.
Life runs on rules. It is a rule that if you do not save for a rainy day, then when the rainy day comes you will suffer the consequences. That is the rule of saving for a rainy day (or a hot summer day in Texas).
Life has many more rules. The wise person will spend time learning the rules.
If they are wise, they will remember them.
If they are wise, they will write them down.
If they are wise, they will live by them.
Remember them or write them down, but you will live by them. Each of them is a life rule that brings success or failure. You will keep repeating the failure until you learn the lesson.
Lonnie Davis