Even the most malevolent, it appears, must find justification for his or her evil.The companion volume to 12 Rules for Life offers further guidance on the perilous path of modern life. Even the most psychopathic of people seemed motivated at least to mask their malfeasance with a layer of lies (with the depth of that layer precisely proportionate to the severity of the impropriety in question). But I have never met anyone who could manage that. Is this not a universal experience? Can anyone escape the pangs of conscience at four o’clock in the morning after acting immorally or destructively, or failing to act when action was necessary? And what is the source for that inescapable conscience? If we were the source of our own values and masters of our own houses, then we could act or fail to act as we choose and not suffer the pangs of regret, sorrow, and shame. We are tormented equally by what we did but know we should not have done. We are universally tormented by our consciences for what we know we should have done yet did not do. If you can find a better path along the way, once you have started moving forward, then switch course. Aim at something profound and noble and lofty. The way-that is the path of life, the meaningful path of life, the straight and narrow path that constitutes the very border between order and chaos, and the traversing of which brings them into balance. Voluntarily confront what stands in your way. You are having an adventure-and your map better be accurate. For better or worse, you are on a journey. You need to know where you are going, or you will drown in uncertainty, unpredictability, and chaos, and starve for hope and inspiration. You need to know where you are, or you will not be able to draw a line from your starting point to your destination. You need to know where you were, so that you do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Notice your errors and misconceptions along the way, face them, and correct them. Pick the best target you can currently conceptualize.

This is also the soul that will transmit what it has learned during that process of death and rebirth, so that others can be reborn along with it. This is the soul that will let its old beliefs burn away, often painfully, so that it can live again, and move forward, renewed. It will voluntarily shed-let die-outdated perceptions, thoughts, and habits, as impediments to its further success and growth. “The healthy, dynamic, and above all else truthful personality will admit to error.

Beyond order 12 rules