12 Rules for Life-Rule #12: “Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street.”
My goal in this last blog is to bring everything full circle, tying the last chapter into a very brief overarching message.
My interpretation of the final rule of the book is to: Enjoy the journey. Dr. Peterson firmly believes that life, is in fact, “suffering.” A pretty dismal outlook, if you ask me, but nonetheless, Christ Himself promises us that things won’t always be easy. Time itself, isn’t even guaranteed. Life has ebbs and flows. We all inherently know this. Thus, when we get an opportunity to be grateful for our present point in time, do just that.
“If you pay careful attention, even on a bad day, you may be fortunate enough to be confronted with small opportunities of just that sort,” (Peterson, p. 353).
You may point out that one can’t simply ignore the evils of the world. And you would be most definitely correct. Dr. Peterson warns against the dangers of simply thinking through the horrors and potentially dangerous situations lurking around any given corner. So how do we confront that? After all, on a personal level, just because we know that suffering may lie somewhere in our future, gives us no excuse to cower in fear. My hope is that by traversing this book with us as we have been digesting and sharing with you over these last few months, you’ll have learned that the exact opposite is true. (*If this is your first visit to our blog, by the way, I welcome you to view our previous writings about Dr. Jordan B. Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life). In fact, I believe that the book, as a whole can be dumbed down to just two points:
1.) Take ownership of your life and your choices.
2.) Just because you do take ownership, doesn’t mean life will always be in the right, but you (largely) will.
Dr. Peterson shares his personal thoughts on suffering as he and his family battled through years of intense pain with his daughter’s fight against Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA).
“People are very tough. People can survive through much pain and loss. But to persevere they must see the good in Being. If they lose that, they are truly lost,” (Peterson, p. 251).
So, where does that leave you and I? We strive to take ownership, we identify weaknesses, and we are now more aware…so what? Let’s visit our current reality as a showcase example of the opportunity that we have before us: When the pandemic first hits, no one knew the gravity or the extent of the ramifications. I personally thought we’d be shut down for a week and then everything would be back to normal (What was I thinking? That the US government would spray hand sanitizer over us in helicopters and we’d all be good to go? Ignorance…but, I digress…). Personal ways of handling changes have been magnified this year far more than any other in most of our lives. In my mind, we fall into one of two categories: The first category of people have grown stronger with thicker skin and capable of adapting to much more than in previous seasons of life. The second group has taken a much different approach and continue to hold out, waiting for some type of saving “sign:” vaccine, worldwide ratification, etc. Regardless of the length of this pandemic, I don’t think it’s too late to embrace reality and get better (guess which category I’m rooting for)! If you do fall into that second category, take heart! It is not too late! Refuse to see the world through a negative lens and apply Dr. Peterson’s rules today! Become stronger now, because when will the world ever be paused like this again?
We hope that this book has been eye-opening/informative to many of you if you’ve gotten the chance to follow along with us! Which rule was your favorite and why? Please, please reach out as we want to hear your feedback! Was this helpful? Did it make you edgy with being convicted? It sure pointed out many personal flaws, in your boy! Always remember to embrace the grind and become all that you were meant to be! Oh, and while you’re at it, “pet a (dog, please be a dog lol) cat when you encounter one on the sidewalk.”
Until next time,
-Brock Baumgarn, CA, Nutrition Consultant, Health 1st Chiropractic
Bibliography:
Peterson, J.B., Doidge, N., &Van, S.E. (2018). 12 rules for life: An antidote to chaos.