By what rules do you rule your life. Whether we know it or not, we all live by certain

Masculine and Feminine Archetypes

rules. Brush your teeth, pick up your clothes, eat your vegetables, don’t hit your brother or sister. Our lives begin with rules, and gradually we pick up others along the way.

The famous couple in the picture to the right lived by certain rules. And yet, they also broke some rules that caused them a lot of suffering and loss of status, job, and who knows what else. Respected rule keepers they were, but those rules did not protect them from near-tragic results due to moral failure.

It would be nice if rules always protected us. But it’s not so simple. Most of us who have made it past the mid-life mark have broken some cherished rules either purposefully or accidentally. It’s a common experience, is it not? What we do with these experiences, what we learn, how those difficult times deepen us, has a lot to do with what rules we live by in the second half of life.

The Dalai Lama has “18 Rules of Living.” I recommend them to you wholeheartedly. There are two that I particularly love: 1) Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. And 2) Learn the rules so you know how to break them.

Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. All of us, let’s face it, want what we want. It’s human nature. But how many times in my life would things have turned out so different, and possibly much worse, if I had gotten exactly what I wanted. Many times I do receive what I want, and actually much, much more. But there are times when not getting what I wanted led to opening doors through which I would never have passed if I hadn’t first been greatly disappointed. Those detours eventually led to unimagined opportunities to which I now owe so much gratitude.

Learn the rules so you know how to break them. Rules help us in many ways, and they hurt us in other ways. For instance, if you are the kind of person who believes in a conventional or traditional style of life, and that lifestyle is consistent with who you are on the inside, then all  is well and good. But many try to live a conventional way of life, yet on the inside they are anything but that person. They have been TOO good at learning the rules to the point that often at midlife, they become exhausted, feeling like the rules have become a one ton backpack that weighs them down or crushes them completely at times. Their creativity and imagination are part of what is getting crushed. So their only choices are a) to become stressed out and possibly sick, b) break out of their rut in some creative way, or c) break the rules in ways that cause them an equal amount of trouble and sorrow on the other side.

Creativity — a change of course and values — of course, is the option anyone would choose, right. It might mean surprising some people in your social circles, resigning from certain roles or activities that have lost their meaning, maybe moving to a new location, leaving a relationship, or seeking a new career path. There are a multitude of possibilities. But the Dalai Lama is right: Knowing how to break the rules is everything! So when you’re ready to do it, make sure you do it with gusto, and make sure you do it with as much conscious awareness as possible. Finding a good therapist or spiritual director could also help greatly.

Carl Jung, the great Swiss psychoanalyst who spoke to the human pursuit of a healthy soul and a healthy life, had a rule. It goes something like this: In every man is a feminine counterpart, and in every woman is a masculine counterpart. In order to be healthy and whole, each of us must do the work of balancing and integrating these forms of energy — what Jung referred to as archetypes. When we fail to do so, the result often takes the shape of sickness or trouble or malaise. When we take this challenge seriously, however, and do so with a spirit of discovery and joy, our lives become full of meaning, discovery, and juiciness. If you have never read Jung’s only book intentionally written by him for the general public, you would do well to delve into his thinking. MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS is a wonderful introduction to the rules of the soul. I commend it to you highly.