Here are Mark's "Five Rules For Life":
1.) Be happy.
Our feelings are our guide through life – an inner compass to keep us on the right path. Every moment we face choices about how to act, and our compass is there to keep us safe - we know we are doing the right thing when we feel good. This good feeling is not a "high" or a "buzz", but a deep and wholesome sense of joy and peace. When you have this, everything else works. The most important thing I have ever learned is that our own happiness is the key to everything.
2.) Pull your own strings.
Happiness, like everything, is a choice. Nothing outside has the power to make you unhappy unless you allow it to be so. You are in control of your experience of life. Everyone is different and only you can know what is right, because only you have access to your feelings. So you need to put yourself first, and let others do the same. People sometimes think this is selfish, but there is nothing more selfish than telling other people how to live.
3.) Embrace change.
Change is the one thing you can be sure of. Every moment is new and unique, and this is what makes life so wonderful – there is always something else to experience. Why cling to the past when there is so much still ahead of us? In truth, we have no choice but to dive into the ever changing current of life, and resisting it only causes pain.
4.) Don’t worry.
People worry constantly about anything and everything. We worry about the future, we worry about the state of the world, and we worry about what other people think of us. But worry achieves nothing and we cannot change the world, only ourselves. Dance your own dance – do what makes you happy, and let others do the same. Don’t take things so seriously. All will be well.
5.) Be grateful.
Marcus Aurelius, the great Roman emperor-philosopher, wrote, "When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love." Where you place your attention is a matter of choice. There are many wonderful things in our lives – choose to focus on them and be grateful for them, and they will expand to fill your experience. To be grateful is to be happy, and to be happy is the purpose of living.
Mark currently resides in Hong Kong.
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