Life Rules: Show up. Pay attention. Tell the truth. Don’t be attached to the results.                              Angeles Arrien

Angeles Arrien is of Basque descent and a professor of anthropology, a teacher of the spiritual life, an author and a general wise woman.  Oh, yes, and she’s a fantastic (in every sense of the word) storyteller.  I got to know her and her work two decades ago when I was making the long journey from one way of life to another.  It was a timely encounter.

Angeles comes out with some of the most precise and pithy quotes of anyone I’ve ever heard, as if, ho hum, I’ve dropped another pearl (of wisdom).  When I heard her 4 Rules for Life, they resonated.

Show up: be there, be prepared, be on time.

Pay attention: sense what’s going on around you, get the information you need, be an involved listener.

Tell the Truth: leadership requires authenticity, we are called to be authentically who we are, express your truth to the best of your ability in the circumstances.

Don’t be attached to the results: that’s not in your control, while you might want a certain outcome, use what you get as the grist for the next phase of life.

Easy to say, hard to do.  I often get stuck on that pesky part about not being attached to the results, what about you?