9th Rule of Thumb

Don’t count your chickens before they cross the road.

Doing The Next Best Thing

Sometimes, doing the best thing is actually doing the obvious thing, or the easiest thing, or the expected thing. This can be as commonplace as being and acting like the person everyone expects you to be. Doing the best thing is often doing the unfruitful thing, as far as any benefit to you is concerned. Do not allow yourself to live up to the label that people and life have bestowed upon you. Most people deserve better than that.

When someone angers you to the point of retaliation, do not retaliate. When you feel like cussing and swearing, praise some one or something instead. If using the law against someone is your most logical choice, then let their own karma call them to accountability instead.

Doing the next best thing is not always the best thing to do. But, in many cases, it is the thing that will work the best. For you and for everyone involved.

Knowing when to do the next best thing instead of the best thing is having wisdom and that is applying knowledge that can only ever be earned.