Here is a forwarded email I received recently. Not the usual life lessons. A lot of good lessons and advice. Enjoy! I italicized the ones that were poignant to me.
Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio. "To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone.. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come...
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
52 Weeks of Happiness Week 30
I can't even describe the happiness I had this past Saturday night. The only wrench thrown in was that I wasn't able to have a date night with hubby, but it turned out to be exactly as it should have been. I took one of my closest friends to see my VERY favorite musical of all time...Les Miserables.
When I was 8, my parents took me and my sister to see the 3 hour long heavy musical. They wondered if I was too young.
Literally, I was on the edge of my seat and didn't want to blink to miss a moment.
The music has captured me since. I saw it again when I was 10, then 15, then 20, and not since. It had been so very influential and beautiful to me, that I cried a little more each time I saw it. By the fourth time (and this past Saturday), I cried off an on (through the entire production) as soon as I heard the first notes. It's a part of my childhood that has grown with me and I have taken in my heart for 20 plus years.
The 25th anniversary showed many set changes, but the music still rang as beautiful as the day I remember and first saw it. Song after beautiful song, I am truly entranced.
Words could never do justice to what the music does to my soul, to my heart. I burst with its with beauty and the release I feel from the tears I cry is just a bonus.
Here is the marquee for this week's picture.
THIS was bliss.
When I was 8, my parents took me and my sister to see the 3 hour long heavy musical. They wondered if I was too young.
Literally, I was on the edge of my seat and didn't want to blink to miss a moment.
The music has captured me since. I saw it again when I was 10, then 15, then 20, and not since. It had been so very influential and beautiful to me, that I cried a little more each time I saw it. By the fourth time (and this past Saturday), I cried off an on (through the entire production) as soon as I heard the first notes. It's a part of my childhood that has grown with me and I have taken in my heart for 20 plus years.
The 25th anniversary showed many set changes, but the music still rang as beautiful as the day I remember and first saw it. Song after beautiful song, I am truly entranced.
Words could never do justice to what the music does to my soul, to my heart. I burst with its with beauty and the release I feel from the tears I cry is just a bonus.
Here is the marquee for this week's picture.
THIS was bliss.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
52 Weeks of Happiness Week 29
This week, on Tuesday, I had a few minutes between work and picking up my little guy. As you know, I love to read, and love a bargain. There are three, yes actually THREE used bookstores I know about, and I went to check them out.
First--Goodwill books. Pretty good selection, actually. Great prices.
Then, Book Traders. A little higher prices, but still a fraction of the price. I bought 2 books here. (and snapped the photo below)
Finally, close to the preschool is a place called the Book Depot. The most expensive at about half the cover price. Best selection of all.
Oh how I loved my used bookstore excursion!
First--Goodwill books. Pretty good selection, actually. Great prices.
Then, Book Traders. A little higher prices, but still a fraction of the price. I bought 2 books here. (and snapped the photo below)
Finally, close to the preschool is a place called the Book Depot. The most expensive at about half the cover price. Best selection of all.
Oh how I loved my used bookstore excursion!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Beauty, and Needing Each Other
I look back on pictures of myself when I was a baby. WOW, was I adorable! (in all modesty. Really.) I mean, weren't we all precious when we were little?
And then comes the awkwardness of middle school and adolecence, and you try to get boys to like you, and you're not sure you're really all that pretty.
But then, college comes, you're more grown-up looking (not necessarily grown-up), and you get compliments on your looks a lot. Well, duh, of course by "you," I mean, this is how it all happened to me.
I wasn't confident at all in high school until maybe my senior year. In my sophomore year of college, I broke up with a really, really crappy boyfriend and as it turns out, a lot of people found me to be really cute. The truth serum of alcohol in college helped many a boy confess things that flattered me. And frankly, it took a while for me to really think I must actually BE pretty, since so many people were saying so. And this continued through my dating years.
Then I met the love of my life, who is the embodiment of what I dreamed of, and more.
But when you get into 5 or 6 years of being together, guys don't really see the need too much anymore to tell you that you look cute. And I can't help it. I miss it. I know for a fact that hubby thinks it, he just doesn't say it.
NO, I am not saying this because I want to feed my ego. I have been accused (not by friends, by sh*tty people) that I am acting conceited.
All I am saying, is that for years I got lots of compliments that led to some confidence and good self-esteem after years of awkwardness and no one returning my adolescent longing.
Sunday was an old friend's birthday, so I sent a quick message saying "Happy birthday! Hope you're well." I get a response. "Hi gorgeous! Thank you!" That was it. But it made me feel so good. I guess I needed to hear from someone else that I was still pretty.
Then I thought, wow. That's pathetic. Shouldn't I be enough? Shouldn't it be enough that I think I'm still cute? Shouldn't I not ever need anyone to tell me such things, because I know it anyway?
NO, NO, and NO. It is OKAY to need to hear something external. We need people communication. WE NEED to hear that we look nice, act nice, or are appreciated. WE are NOT enough for ourselves. WE NEED EACH OTHER. We do NOT have to be alone. AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT.
I am okay with needing someone to tell me I look okay, particularly since I don't hear it very often anymore. It sounds stronger to say, "I don't need that!" but I think I'm stronger for admitting I DO need it. From anyone I think highly of. When someone says I love you or compliments me, I like to think they mean it. They don't have to see it. My old friend could have just responded with a thank you, or not at all.
It meant a lot, and it's okay that I need that. I know I am not alone in this thought. We all need that. We all need each other.
And then comes the awkwardness of middle school and adolecence, and you try to get boys to like you, and you're not sure you're really all that pretty.
But then, college comes, you're more grown-up looking (not necessarily grown-up), and you get compliments on your looks a lot. Well, duh, of course by "you," I mean, this is how it all happened to me.
I wasn't confident at all in high school until maybe my senior year. In my sophomore year of college, I broke up with a really, really crappy boyfriend and as it turns out, a lot of people found me to be really cute. The truth serum of alcohol in college helped many a boy confess things that flattered me. And frankly, it took a while for me to really think I must actually BE pretty, since so many people were saying so. And this continued through my dating years.
Then I met the love of my life, who is the embodiment of what I dreamed of, and more.
But when you get into 5 or 6 years of being together, guys don't really see the need too much anymore to tell you that you look cute. And I can't help it. I miss it. I know for a fact that hubby thinks it, he just doesn't say it.
NO, I am not saying this because I want to feed my ego. I have been accused (not by friends, by sh*tty people) that I am acting conceited.
All I am saying, is that for years I got lots of compliments that led to some confidence and good self-esteem after years of awkwardness and no one returning my adolescent longing.
Sunday was an old friend's birthday, so I sent a quick message saying "Happy birthday! Hope you're well." I get a response. "Hi gorgeous! Thank you!" That was it. But it made me feel so good. I guess I needed to hear from someone else that I was still pretty.
Then I thought, wow. That's pathetic. Shouldn't I be enough? Shouldn't it be enough that I think I'm still cute? Shouldn't I not ever need anyone to tell me such things, because I know it anyway?
NO, NO, and NO. It is OKAY to need to hear something external. We need people communication. WE NEED to hear that we look nice, act nice, or are appreciated. WE are NOT enough for ourselves. WE NEED EACH OTHER. We do NOT have to be alone. AND I AM OKAY WITH THAT.
I am okay with needing someone to tell me I look okay, particularly since I don't hear it very often anymore. It sounds stronger to say, "I don't need that!" but I think I'm stronger for admitting I DO need it. From anyone I think highly of. When someone says I love you or compliments me, I like to think they mean it. They don't have to see it. My old friend could have just responded with a thank you, or not at all.
It meant a lot, and it's okay that I need that. I know I am not alone in this thought. We all need that. We all need each other.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
52 Weeks of Happiness Week 28
This past Thursday (and all week, actually), Memphis encountered an incredible snap of fall weather.
It gave us a tiny preview into the season of orange, yellow, and red leaves, pumpkin spiced goodies, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! What a lovely preview it was.
I'm working on training for my fourth 1/2 marathon benefiting St. Jude in December. I can't handle running in hot temps outside. My lungs don't like it, and I don't like being far away from water. I love the treadmill when I can run in the cool inside and have water at any given moment.
But I do love running outside when I can handle it. Thursday, I ran after school (which happens to be 12:30 for me!) and it was lovely. I did 3 miles, and enjoyed being outside with the trees, sun, and breeze again. I take my phone so I can see how long I have gone (GPS on phone), so somewhere in the middle I decided to snap a pic of this great moment.
It gave us a tiny preview into the season of orange, yellow, and red leaves, pumpkin spiced goodies, Halloween, and Thanksgiving! What a lovely preview it was.
I'm working on training for my fourth 1/2 marathon benefiting St. Jude in December. I can't handle running in hot temps outside. My lungs don't like it, and I don't like being far away from water. I love the treadmill when I can run in the cool inside and have water at any given moment.
But I do love running outside when I can handle it. Thursday, I ran after school (which happens to be 12:30 for me!) and it was lovely. I did 3 miles, and enjoyed being outside with the trees, sun, and breeze again. I take my phone so I can see how long I have gone (GPS on phone), so somewhere in the middle I decided to snap a pic of this great moment.
9/11
Do you know what happiness I find in remembering 9/11 and I find because of it? Because people who knew they had only a few minutes to live called to express love. And those who did not fall this day were reminded by those fallen how important every moment is, and how much love came pouring out.
It reminded all of Americans to take time and remember those who really, really matter. To remember WHAT really matters in life, and I say with confidence that many people learned to stop taking many things for granted.
I know I did. I am grateful daily for the many blessings in my life. For my family, my parents, my husband, my child, my happiness, my friends, my dog, my home, my community, my job, my bed, the roof over my head, good food, good health, and more. I do say prayers of thanks everyday for them. Being just out of college, I think I was at a good part of my life as I began adulthood, and really took time to think of what is really important, and how lucky I am.
Bless you, and bless America.
It reminded all of Americans to take time and remember those who really, really matter. To remember WHAT really matters in life, and I say with confidence that many people learned to stop taking many things for granted.
I know I did. I am grateful daily for the many blessings in my life. For my family, my parents, my husband, my child, my happiness, my friends, my dog, my home, my community, my job, my bed, the roof over my head, good food, good health, and more. I do say prayers of thanks everyday for them. Being just out of college, I think I was at a good part of my life as I began adulthood, and really took time to think of what is really important, and how lucky I am.
Bless you, and bless America.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Laughter
I finished the Happiness Project book! Started in March, took my time perusing and underlining, and I finished up this weekend. I usually don't make it through non-fiction completely, but this one was linear enough for me to do just that. I have many notes and ! marks in the margins for future blog posts...so stay tuned.
BUT FIRST...
I was reading her November chapter, and I realized I really do not laugh enough. Children laugh more times a day than we do in a week, and it's just time I found a reason to do it. Remember the column in Reader's Digest, "Laughter, the best medicine?" I loved it. As a kid, I'd find my grandparents' copy of the magazine so I could learn some new jokes. My son's giggles should be inspiration enough, but I do forget.
Certain comedians make me laugh so hard I cry. Why don't I download it and listen to it in the car? I have no good answer to this. This swept the news for a day or two...and I love it. Seeing someone who is usually so serious be so tickled makes me giggle.
Seriously, click here. I can't embed on blog, but it's. so. funny.
Maybe it could be a good laugh for you today, too.
Who/what makes you laugh?
BUT FIRST...
I was reading her November chapter, and I realized I really do not laugh enough. Children laugh more times a day than we do in a week, and it's just time I found a reason to do it. Remember the column in Reader's Digest, "Laughter, the best medicine?" I loved it. As a kid, I'd find my grandparents' copy of the magazine so I could learn some new jokes. My son's giggles should be inspiration enough, but I do forget.
Certain comedians make me laugh so hard I cry. Why don't I download it and listen to it in the car? I have no good answer to this. This swept the news for a day or two...and I love it. Seeing someone who is usually so serious be so tickled makes me giggle.
Seriously, click here. I can't embed on blog, but it's. so. funny.
Maybe it could be a good laugh for you today, too.
Who/what makes you laugh?
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
52 Weeks of Happiness Week 27
Late again, but I was on vacay in Hardy. So that's my excuse this time.
I'm trying to find little things that are new to this blog that make me happy, but the truth is, the same things that make me happy before make me happy this time.
Plus, right now, I am tremendously stressed about a lot of upcoming things. And I've tried half of my life (literally) to really find ways to calm down. I'm not sure why, but nothing has TRULY, TRULY worked.
Sigh. ANYWAY, even if it didn't create complete serenity in me, I will always be moved and more serene than before when I am near water.
This weekend we took a family trip to Hardy, AR, to my MIL's house. We took a pontoon boat ride once, and I snapped a picture of all the moving water behind it. The sound, smell, feel, and sight of water seems to speak to me. I'm not always sure what it says, but it reminds me of a place I can find within me that, well, maybe helps me go with the flow a little more.
May you have peace like a river, too.
I'm trying to find little things that are new to this blog that make me happy, but the truth is, the same things that make me happy before make me happy this time.
Plus, right now, I am tremendously stressed about a lot of upcoming things. And I've tried half of my life (literally) to really find ways to calm down. I'm not sure why, but nothing has TRULY, TRULY worked.
Sigh. ANYWAY, even if it didn't create complete serenity in me, I will always be moved and more serene than before when I am near water.
This weekend we took a family trip to Hardy, AR, to my MIL's house. We took a pontoon boat ride once, and I snapped a picture of all the moving water behind it. The sound, smell, feel, and sight of water seems to speak to me. I'm not always sure what it says, but it reminds me of a place I can find within me that, well, maybe helps me go with the flow a little more.
May you have peace like a river, too.
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