Having a set of basic guidelines can be helpful. However realistically, guidelines don’t determine how to live; Instead Taoism teaches by living you will express your nature.My personal guidelines are the following:
With care, I aid those who are extended expressions of my nature.
Be true to myself
Connect to the world as I want to be treated.
Connect to those outside my nature with decisive action.
To those unwilling to accept me for my true nature, no action is required:
Just silently let them be themselves as I remain myself.
I own nothing; I am merely a passing custodian of items outside of my nature.
Discover a set of practices to aid keeping the mind, body and spirit engaged and strong. Remember practices should support your essence with the activities fitting the needs of the moment. Which means this is a shifting balance of activities relative to your needs. For example I practice martial arts to keep my body strong, yoga to make my body subtle, meditation to clear my mind, bike around simply to fly and lift my spirit. Poetry as a lens of examination. All these and more are my shifting practices to support my essence and in doing each, each helps me learn more about myself and the world.