Words to Live By

A friend of a friend recently passed into Spirit, but his words live on. We share them with you here:

Tim Moellering's top ten rules to live by, since as a Berkeley high school and junior high school teacher and coach for about 30 years, his greatest passion was teaching and seeing his students and players (including many troubled and economically less fortunate kids) succeed in life. He had a full auditorium for his memorial service yesterday, and they had a separate service at Berkeley High School for teachers and students there (since there would've not been a space large enough). Tim always was the one to get our old college buddies together, and it was good to see some folks yesterday I haven't seen in over 20 years.


1. Have empathy for everyone. Learn from Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird: "Crawl in someone else's skin and walk around in it."

2. Tell the truth. When you tell the truth, you have less to remember. You know you never lied and eventually everyone will trust you.

3. Be reliable. Do what you say you are going to do, even if it means showing up on time. People will trust you.

4. Assume positive intent. Assume everything everyone does is with good intentions. If they are incompetent, so be it, but it doesn't hurt you to assume they are doing their best. You will be able to understand their actions when you don't judge.

5. Be physically active. Better than any drugs. It's fun, it can be a big boon in your social life. If you are running an errand, walk or ride a bike because you will feel better. It may not be obvious at first, but it adds up.

6. Just do it. If the choice is between sitting around and doing nothing or doing something, do something every single time.

7. Don't blame anyone. This is key. No one is to blame for anything. Only you can change what you do. If you blame someone else then you can't solve the problem. Instead, you are telling someone else to solve the problem. If you don't blame other people then you will be able to take control.

8. Your possessions can be replaced. People are obsessed with their possessions. It's a terrible way of living by letting your possessions control you. When you let go of your possessions, you become free. There's little relationship between wealth and happiness.

9. Carpe diem. Seize the day. Accomplish something every day, otherwise you are wasting time. There's always something wonderful to experience, go do it.

10. Solve your problems. Some people like to have problems so that they have something to complain about. Don't waste time. It also gives you something to do, something to strive for.

Carpe Diem!