- First and foremost, learn to have fun, laugh and enjoy. Life is way too short to be serious all of the time. We need to lighten up and enjoy the moments while they are happening.
- Make great memories. You will hear me say this a lot in the next 49 things, but life is short, and all we can take with us in the end are memories. One of my favorite all time quotes is by Og Mandino : "I am convinced that the greatest legacy we can leave our children are happy memories: those precious moments so much like pebbles on the beach that are plucked from the white sand and placed in tiny boxes that lay undisturbed on tall shelves until one day they spill out and time repeats itself, with joy and sweet sadness, in the child now an adult. .....Memories. Love's best preservative."
- Things never turn out exactly like you think they should. Sometimes they are better and sometimes they are not. Get used to it. Don't think it a big surprise when it doesn't happen like you think it will.
- Life is too short to worry over things that don't matter in the end. I learned a long time ago to ask myself a couple of questions: 1. Will this matter in five years? Will it matter in 10 years? 2. Is this important to my eternal salvation? In other words, will it matter in the grand scheme of things? If the answer to these questions were no, then it just didn't matter enough to stress or fuss over it.
- Life is too short to worry about other people's crap. Stop worrying about what other people are doing, or not doing. It doesn't matter to your life, so why worry about it. Don't be the person who is always stressing over some other person's life. Your life will give you enough to think about.
- Never take things for granted. Be grateful for even the small things in life, they are often the best things. I read a quote the other day that said: The things we take for granted, are often those things other people are praying for.
- Smiling really can help you feel better. There is just something magical about a smile. It can lift your spirits. It can help someone else feel better. Ever met one of "those" people who have a permanent scowl on their face? They don't make us smile, and their lives must be so unhappy. Smile, you just might fool yourself and others long enough to actually become that happy smiley person.
- Sugar is bad for you. Plain and simple. It tastes great, and is fantastic - sometimes. It is the culprit of so many bad things that happen in your body. Learn that young, old or wherever you are in life. Sugar is not good for you.
- Don't be proud and arrogant. It only causes pain to you and those around you. Be humble, which means be teachable and loveable. Your life will be much happier if you can figure out how to be humble.
- Learn to find the good in others. When we focus really hard on finding the good in others, we too will become good people. I hope that when I die, at my funeral they will say that I was a good person who always found the good in others.
- Walking with a friend is better than any form of paid therapy. I can't even begin to tell you how true this one is. I have spent years walking with many different friends, and wow - it is the best form of physical and mental therapy you can give your body.
- Digging in the garden is the best form of internal therapy. I find it absolutely incredible how I can sort through my feelings and emotions by heading out to my gardens and working in them. I guess if you don't like gardening you could use another form of work, but the point here is to do it alone and quiet so you can internalize life things.
- Grandchildren are the best because we can just love them. We can really be their best buddies. It is all about making memories and having fun.
- We really can be friends with our children. I hear all the time how parents don't think they can be friends with their children or teenagers. I believe we can and should be friends with them. How sad to not be their friend and confidant.
- Don't let others decide your life for you. Your life, your decisions, it's all up to you. the buck stops with you.
- Life is too short to spend it with people who make you unhappy. We all have those energy drainers, life suckers. I am not saying dump them all together. I am saying find their place in your life and move on. Don't let them drain you or control the shots.
- Being in nature, quiet and alone is like I imagine Heaven to be with the peacefulness. Only difference is I imagine people with me in Heaven, but nature offers peace to be found no where else.
- Do the things you love to do. You don't have time to waste on doing things that make you unhappy or miserable. Yes we all have things that need to be done that we might not like to, but for the most part we can choose to do things we love.
- Really truly care about people. Being selfish will never bring happiness. Putting others first always will bring happiness.
- Try new things. The world is full of great things for us to learn and experience. Make your list and go try things. When is the last time you tried something for the first time?
- Be nice to your siblings because someday they will become your best friends. Other friends will come and go in life, but your siblings will always be there.
- Always put your family first. No job or schooling or anything, is more important than your family.
- Follow your dreams. Make them a reality, yet realize that they must be realistic dreams or they will never become a reality and you will just become frustrated.
- Learn to forgive yourself and others quickly. It will save you so much wasted time stewing and fretting over insignificant crap.
- Don't be afraid to fail, or you will never try things and be successful.
- Stand up for what you believe in. Don't be afraid to do this, it defines who you really are.
- Debt really sucks. Stay out of it if you can. Live within your means.
- Never stop learning. The library can be your university and Google can be your best friend.
- Slow down and don't wish your life away. Enjoy the moment you are in.
- Give your attention to what you are doing and do it well. If you commit to something, give it your all.
- Learn to really listen to people. Don't only half listen. Focus on what the other person is saying and give them your undivided attention.
- It isn't worth it to speak negative of people or judge them. It only defines your character, not theirs.
- Be original. Be you. Don't try to be someone else.
- Don't be afraid to step into the unknown. Sometimes you find the greatest treasures there.
- Learn early to determine the difference between needs and wants. If you can figure this out sooner rather than later, you will be much happier.
- Stuff clutters our lives. Get rid of stuff and live a simple life emotionally as well as physically.
- Have faith in God, in people and in yourself. you are capable of great things too. There are forces out there much greater than you or I and if we find faith in them, we will be much the better for it.
- Talk less. Sometimes it is just important to be quiet. Internalize, listen, and be quiet.
- Be passionate about everything you do. If you live your life with passion, it will be a beautiful life.
- Ask questions of everyone you meet and listen to their answers. It will offer you great insights, and will make others feel good about themselves. Always act like what they have to say is of utmost importance to you.
- Procrastinating only makes the agony worse. Just get things done that need to be done.
- No job is perfect. You must make the best of it. If you really hate it, only you can change it.
- Too many things are time wasters, life suckers. Find out what yours are and get rid of them so you can be productive.
- Chores will always be there, but memory making opportunities won't. Make them any chance you can get.
- Don't ever just settle for something. If you want better or more, make it happen.
- Be kind to people. It isn't nice to make people feel bad. It makes you a bad person and that is not okay.
- Stop caring about what people think about you and be more concerned with who is looking back at you in the mirror.
- Read more books. It keeps your brain alive and active.
- Love children, teach them, help them, make them happy and help them to be wise. Be gentle with them. Never harm them. They will lead the world when you are old.
- Do your best to always remember birthdays, anniversaries, and important dates. It shows people you care enough about them to remember.
- Last but not least, Control is a bad word in that you cannot control every factor of your life. Sometimes crap happens, it is part of life. Let it roll off your shoulders and get on with life. Crap will always happen, and we can't control it, but we can control how we deal with it. That is what counts.
Well there you have 51 things I have learned in my 51 years of life. It is important sometimes to go over some of the important things we have learned. It is always a good reminder of who we ought to be.
What do you think? What have you learned that you could add to the list?
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