46 things I have learned (in no particular order):
- You can only control what you can control. One can definitely influence situations, and if you can do so for the betterment of the situation, one definitely should. However, ultimately you can only control how you react and respond.
- If you seek validation, you are likely setting yourself up to feel undervalued. – Or at the very least, disappointed or disheartened.
- Knowing yourself really is key. Understanding how you are wired, shaped, best thrive, and so on.
- Knowing your why? is very useful. – Though if you’ve got no.3 well covered, possibly no further discovery needed.
- Laughter truly is good medicine.
- Embrace and be present in the moment(s). I’m not advocating against thinking about the future. Rather, cautioning against being either so caught up in the past or intent on what’s next, that you miss what is going on in the hear and now.
- Having Faith is foundational.
- Regulate your responses. By which I mean, in potentially heated or intense situations, take a minute to just check what may be behind your response. Are you responding purely based on what is happening in that moment; or on the 1,000 other things that have been going on in that day or week?
- Family/Closest loved ones come first.
- We are all works-in-progress. A few of us are further along in the process. Others of us are stunted by some of life’s happenings. Some of us are on a loop, repeatedly finding ourselves back at square ______. Others…
- If we all loved our neighbour as ourselves, this world would be a far better place.
- Life really does suck sometimes. We need to be able to feel and express that. – Though you may prefer an alternate word for ‘suck’. We need to give ourselves, and other people permission to not always be “Hallelujah anyhow!†// Keep calm & carry on… You know what I mean.
- Creativity -in its various forms- is life-giving.
- Truly loving others is hard. Loving yourself can be even harder still. You cannot do (or sustain) one without the other.
- Tomorrow really isn’t promised. Life truly is short. A quote attributed to James Dean says, “dream as if you’ll live forever; live like you’ll die today.â€
- You really do forget how good Kellogg’s Cornflakes taste!
- Saving for a ‘rainy day’ has its valid place; but enjoying what you have now, is also a valid choice.
- Marmite isn’t actually that bad. The caveat, I’ve made this transition from ‘hate it’ to ‘like -not love- it’ since living in Southeast Asia. When a lot of your food has sweet connotations, having something that is straight-up hardcore savoury is a delight.
- Dance breaks should be prescribable. Stopping to drop foot for 5 minutes in the middle of a hard day or week can lift your spirit, and free your mind. #danceitout
- Lemon Drizzle is THE cake to have on your birthday! If you don’t agree, it’s all good. Cos I know what I know. My nephew & niece made me a Lemon Drizzle that made me say “Hallelujah!â€