Monday, June 15, 2009

Life Lessons

This list was e-mailed to me by a friend. I have changed the age of the writer because it originally said she was 90 years old. I checked for authenticity of the article on Snopes and discovered that it is true with the exception of her age. She turned fifty in 2006. Some of these quotes are often falsely attributed to others like Andy Rooney, Maya Angelou, etc.


Written By Regina Brett, 53 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."

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."

14 comments:

la peregrina said...

Talk about synchronicity, Darlene. I was just talking with my sister about some of the things listed here. I'm sending the list on to her because I think she could use it right now. Thanks for posting it.

Nancy said...

Darlene,

This list is right on the money!
Especially #21. I could not agree more.

My late MIL would wear the shabbiest sweater and if you gave her a new one she would put it away so it wouldn't get dirty or worn.

You won't believe this one...

One the first day of her marriage she made a pot of coffee and she and my FIL didn't drink all of it,so she put what was left over in a glass jar. The next morning she made a new pot of coffee but they couldn't drink THAT, they had to finish the coffee in the jar first. Then, what was left over from that day went into the jar and the next day the same thing was repeated, over and over for more than 60 years.

Just think, they were always drinking stale coffee with a fresh pot brewing on the stove.. If, just one day, she had thrown away the coffee that was left over, they could have measured better and made a new pot for the next day and finished it all and from then on they would have had good coffee. But, she refused to do that.

So, she went through life drinking coffee that tasted like motor oil and wearing darned up clothes and doing a dozen other things that she didn't have to do.. She was frugal to a fault!

Too bad she didn't get to read this list you published here,Darlene. Maybe she would have been happier if only she could have read #21....

Darlene said...

*la peregrina - I'm glad I could be hepfull.

*Nancy - I had a great aunt like that. Not one drip or dab ws ever thrown away. She saved a teaspoon of every left over vegetable and Friday night put all the drabs together for dinner. That's not frugal; that's just plain being a tightwad.

Nancy said...

Yes, Darlene, Just helping my MIL clear the table after eating was a traumatic experience. Nothing you did was right.

There would be a bowl with 3 peas in it left over. Now, if you threw the peas away you were a very wasteful girl and if you put wax paper over them you were wasting precious wax paper on 3 little peas.It was decisions, decisions
decisions........And NONE was the right decision.

But, to be fair, my MIL was kind and generous in her own way and helped us a lot when our children were little. She was just frugal.

Joy Des Jardins said...

I love this list Darlene. Someone sent me this a few days ago in an e-mail. Some great stuff here...

Tabor said...

Yes, I do recognize some as quotes I had read before, but it is still good advice.

Looking to the Stars said...

Good list, Darlene! thank you for sharing :)

Roshni said...

I like #10, though I am giving the ignore treatment right now!!

Xtreme English said...

wow...90 to 53 is a pretty big stretch!

Mage said...

So many of those are trusims. #33 certainly is in my life, but then there is the one about chocolate. LOL

Sylvia K said...

This is such a great list! A friend of mine here in Seattle sent it to me and all I could think of is that it was the best and most correct list of things ever. Now if we could just all keep them in a quiet spot inside us, how much easier the hard things would be to deal with. Thanks so much for posting it!

kenju said...

An excellent list!!

Darlene said...

*Nancy - I guess we all have relatives like that. The Great Depression fostered them.

*Joy - we must have the same contacts. ;-)

*Xtreme English - I think that the person who copied this thought that if it was written by a 90 year old it would be more impressive.

*Tabor - I am guilty of a bit of plagiarism myself.

*Looking To the Stars - You're welcome.

*Roshni Mitra Chintalapati _Thank you for the visit. I hope you will return.

*Xtreme English - I think the person who copied this thought that the age 90 would sound more impressive.

*Sylvia K - I'm working on that quiet spot. ;-)

*Kenju - I think so too.

Lydia said...

Excellent list! I was trying to select my favorite, but I just can't. Each is good and would jump to the top of the list given different circumstances.

Happy Summer, Darlene. :)