‘Ten Rules for Living the Good Life’: A Poem by Roy E. Peterson

Ten Rules for Living the Good Life

You must make peace with your own past.
_Construct a mental suture
with timeless thread and mercy’s needle,
_Then focus on your future.

What other people think of you
_you never will control.
If truly bad, then prove them wrong
_For peace within your soul.

The only person who’s in charge
_of happiness is you.
It matters not what others think,
_or what they say and do.

You can’t compare your life to others,
_Not knowing what they’ve gone through.
What you can do is be supportive
_with friendship that is true.

Time heals almost everything,
_Focus on what’s ahead.
Keep only those good memories,
_Replay them in your head.

Stop overthinking all life’s problems
_Answers are everywhere.
Use more than one source to tackle them
_Then make a choice aware.

Your smile should be your asset.
_There is no cause to frown.
You don’t own all the world’s problems.
_They’ll only get you down.

Be kind and thoughtful to those you meet
_that’s the way to start.
Just one kind act that you have done
_affects all human hearts.

Be thankful for all that you have
_it could be less, you know.
Don’t be Comparison’s poor slave
_Let satisfaction show.

LTC Roy E. Peterson, US Army Military Intelligence and Russian Foreign Area Officer (Retired) has published more than 6,200 poems in 88 of his 112 books. He has been an Army Attaché in Moscow, Commander of INF Portal Monitoring in Votkinsk, first US Foreign Commercial Officer in Vladivostok, Russia and Regional Manager in the Russian Far East for IBM. He holds a BA, Hardin-Simmons University (Political Science); MA, University of Arizona (Political Science); MA, University of Southern California (Int. Relations) and MBA University of Phoenix. He taught at the University of Arizona, Western New Mexico University, University of Maryland, Travel University and the University of Phoenix.