- Never be satisfied with what you know.
- Laugh at yourself every day.
- Pursue things seemingly impossible. Put it on the calendar and stretch yourself.
- Give people lots of chances, but know when to walk away.
- Don’t buy into that crap and all those cute memes about forgiving people because you deserve the peace. Forgiveness isn’t about you. That’s a lie.
- You don’t have to convince people your life is perfect, so stop trying. We’re all broken and everybody knows it.
- Life’s greatest adventure is actively searching out your purpose. Along the way, you’ll try lots of things that don’t work. No big deal, that’s why it’s a great adventure, and it makes for good stories. Fulfillment is finding, and using it, and you’ll get there if you keep looking. But you must go looking.
- What matters most is what’s in your heart. But don’t use that as a cop out.
- Encourage others. Every day, cheer for someone.
- Want to learn? Read. Travel. Stop thinking you’re right all the time. And have long conversations with people who think differently than you.
- Ask yourself occasionally, “What’s the last thing I think about before falling asleep at night?”
- Remember that no one gets anywhere in life without someone else’s help.
- Be kind, compassionate, and generous, but ultimately have a mature understanding that you are not responsible for someone else’s happiness/joy.
- You cannot unscramble an egg.
- Progress doesn’t mean making all things permissible.
- Some people will always exploit/subvert good things for their own purpose and it will muddy the water about that good thing. Just remember the good thing was not the word itself, but the thing itself. Remember what the “thing” is, what it really means, and that for which it stands. e.g. Christianity, patriotism, charity, freedom of expression, etc., etc. They’ve all been hijacked.
- Small things matter. Jesus washed people’s feet.
- Intentionally focus on some things that take “me/I” out of the equation. Reduce the frequency of those words in your vocabulary. Seriously. Try it.
- Do something charitable that no one will ever know about. Then, do it more often.
- Go away alone sometimes.
- Be a good steward of the environment.
- Don’t plan all the big and fun things in your life for retirement. That day may never come. The number of friends I’ve lost in recent years in their 40s and 50s is far too high.
- The next time you encounter someone with a different skin tone who doesn’t speak your language so well and is causing you some inconvenience, don’t think that person is dumb, or stupid, or less of a person than you. Try immersing yourself in a different culture and see what happens. That person most likely speaks more languages than you, by the way.
- Get over yourself.
- If you want to be one of those people who shares news on the internet, be responsible. Just because it fits your belief system or because you hope it’s true, doesn’t make it true. Don’t be part of the problem. How do you do this? See #10 above.
- Have a personal mission statement.
- Yes, someone may have taught you something a long time ago, and you may have believed it all your life. That doesn’t make it true.
- In contrast to #27 above, some things that were true a very long time ago are still true today. You get to decide what’s true, and what isn’t. Come to those conclusions with great care.
- The expression of your convictions changes nothing.
-30-
Fantastic, thoughtful list. Will definitely save this for future reference.
…getting out the salt and pepper…😀