My Rules To Live By

Previously I've only shared these rules with people closest to me. But that's not enough, because so many people seem to really need them. So here they are. Rules to live by as thought up by the Pretty Kitty when she was between the ages of 12 and 22:

1. Don't spend money that doesn't need to be spent
   In other words, if you're already scratching to get by, don't buy things just for the sake of having them. I still don't have an iPod and I'm doing fine. I can't, however live without music, so when my Walkman finally died about a month ago, I went straight down to Kmart and bought a CD/cassette player. This is money that did need to be spent, to stop the Kitty climbing the walls.
2. Don't send things to landfill which don't need to go
   This is actually my favourite. I made this rule while watching my housemates clean out their wardrobes. With other people in the house who would have loved the almost new things they were throwing away and two op shops within an easy walk of the house, they were just throwing their 'old' things in the bin, purely because they had new things. I found this absolutely appalling, and took it upon myself to remove as many things as possible from the rubbish as quickly as possible, the things I didn't want then found their way to the op shop. The other thing that people seem really bad at is recycling. If you don't recycle, don't complain when the world runs out of EVERYTHING! Also, you may think you're recycling simply by putting things in your recycling bin, but here's why you're not: Food is not recyclable. If you throw things in you recycling bin without washing them out first, they will still end up in landfill. The people at the recycling plant are not there to wash out your milk cartons, bottles and jars. Clean, recyclable materials are sorted and recycled. Containers that still have bits of food in them are allowed to slip right past and go into the rubbish. Also, if you put your recycling into plastic bags before you put it in your recycling bin, it goes to landfill. Recycling is sorted on a conveyor belt. They do not have the time to undo you stupid knots or empty plastic bags.
   So basically, if you can think of another use for something, employ it. Cracked plastic box could be covered, strengthened with cardboard and used for a foot stool, for example.
3. Don't judge what you don't know.
   What you think is rudeness may simply be shyness, what you call stupidity may just be ignorance. You don't know anybody's background unless they tell you. A girl wearing a short skirt is probably just feeling the heat, today; that quiet old gent at the bus stop can probably teach you a few things, if you don't dismiss him as just another old man.
4. Every situation is meant to teach you something.
   In other words, The slow elderly lady in the queue in front of you, the one who feels the need to tell the cashier her life story, is meant to teach you patience. Your teenage daughter turning up with a boyfriend from a background you never realised you didn't approve of is meant to teach you acceptance. Try to find the lesson in every situation.
5. Never break a promise
   This is a simple one. If you say you're going to call, call. If you say you're going to be somewhere, be somewhere. It's ok to just plain forget, so long as you make it up later.
6. Don't ever have too many rules.
   There are more, but revealing them all at once may cancel out rule #6...

Signed with love,

The Pretty Kitty.