Tuesday 15 May 2012

Lessons Learned



They say experience is the best teacher.  And sometimes you have to live it to learn it.  Life has taught me some tough lessons.  About life itself.  About other people.  About myself.  Some of the lessons have been easy.  Some have been bitter pills to swallow.  Some I understood right away.  Some I'm still trying to accept.  Here are just a few....
  • Life is fragile.  Life is fleeting.  Appreciate what you have – even in the rough times – because tomorrow it could be different.  Or it could be gone.
  • The mind is powerful.  Thoughts can drive you forward, but they can also hold you back.  They can trap you in places you never wanted to be.  Even the most solid of minds can turn against you and bend under pressure.  I am not immune.
  • Whatever you need and whenever you need it dont really mean whatever and whenever.  They come with restrictions.  And time limits.  Just because people promise they will be there doesnt mean they will.  On a similar note, true friends don’t tell you they’ll be there.  They come without asking.  Nothing eases the hurting heart more than the reaching out of a friend.
  • Humans are resilient.  I am resilient.  Even when I feel weak, I am stronger than I ever knew possible.  Even in the depths of hell, when things seem at their bleakest, somewhere inside is the will to fight through and carry on.
  • Its okay to cry.  Necessary even.  Its a proven fact that tears release toxins.  But they release so much more.
  • The most comforting words in the English language are not “Its Okay.”  Not even “I love you.”  In times of trial, sometimes all one needs to hear is “I am here” or “I understand.”
  • I can’t do it all on my own.  Nor should I have to.  It takes a community not only to raise a child, but to nurture an adult.
  • Social networking can be lifesaving.  It connects you with people you never imagined, to networks you’d never know are out there.  There really is power in numbers.  We are better together.
  • Things could always be worse.  I’m lucky.  I have experienced pain.  I have experienced loss.  But I have also experienced joy.  While I am not thankful for many things happening in my life today, I still have much to be thankful for.
  • The past influences you.  But it does not define you.  Only you can do that.
  • You can run from yourself.  But you'll never be able to hide.  The truth catches up with you in the end.
  • Life is not fair.  Not every fairy tale ends with a happily ever after.  Forever only means a life time, not an eternity.  But life is still life.  Your only life.
  • By just them being who they are, even the youngest of children can be a hero.  They really can save a life just by being there.  Mine has.  Many times over.
  • Tomorrow always comes.  Even if you don’t want it to.  Even if you are not there to see it.  The sun will always rise on a new day.  Life goes on.
  • Love is forever.  Just like life sustaining water, it changes forms.  But its always there.  People die.  Love doesn’t.

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