Submitted by Angie Rivera

angie rivera loves dogs and has three of them, two of which she rescued from the street (she wishes she could rescue more, but they would kick her out of her house!). she is a law student and has been in an amazing (in both good times and bad) relationship for the past five years. if she knew some years ago what she knows now, she would have probably made the same amount of mistakes...only better ones!

Here are Angie's "Five Rules For Life":

1.) Be passionate.
About everything in your life - your family, your friends, your craft, your daily tasks. When you’re doing something, even if it’s just cooking dinner or walking your dogs, commit to it and be present. It’s the only way to live in the moment and live it fully.

2.) Never cheat.
At board games, in relationships, at your job, in your life. It taints achievements, ruins relationships, makes you out to be someone you are not, and ultimately you fool everyone but yourself. Failure is nothing to be ashamed of, as long as you do it honestly. And when you finally succeed it will be 10 times better because it was all you.

3.) Love completely, but keep your eyes open.
It is okay to trust someone with your life, but also know that no one is perfect and that you are bound to be disappointed. Learn to love people in spite of that (because of that?), and learn that we will disappoint our fair share of people too...hey, we’re all human.

4.) Don’t worry.
I once heard that worrying is like rocking in a rocking chair - it gives you something to do, but ultimately it gets you nowhere. Instead of worrying, do something about it - and if you can’t, then let it go. This is not giving up, it's accepting that some things are just not up to you. And that's why you have to...

5.) Do the best you can.
Sometimes things go so roughly that all you can do is try your very best and let it be. Even then it's our responsibility to ourselves and others to do our best because the alternative is giving up. And that is never an option. Ever.

Angie Rivera currently resides in Puerto Rico.

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