Happy New Year to Me!

There is something about this time of year that makes me do a lot of reflecting. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my birthday. :) It probably has nothing to to with the fact that tomorrow, I will have two daughters in their 20’s. No let’s try to forget that the number of candles on my cheesecake keeps going up and up each year, and that pretty soon, I’m going to have to add one candle for each decade so that we can avoid starting a fire. Let’s just say with the cooler temperatures, and the anticipation of the fall colors beautifying the landscape, I recollect seasons past. This year is not an exception.

Last year I thought about compiling a list of lessons learned, and quotes and things that I’ve been collecting in one place in time to post it for my birthday. It didn’t happen then, but it has now. I actually got a journal/quote book to write them in. The fact that it is also purple only makes it even more special.

Today, on the first day of my new year, I’m sharing them with you. As I get closer to 50, (yes, as hard as it is for me to believe, I said FIFTY) I’m realizing that I have been through a lot and learned a lot in the process. This year I thought I’d make a list of at least 47 lessons I’ve learned. I had a hard time stopping at 47, believe it or not. Some of the lessons are recently learned or recently revisited, some require daily reminders, and some were learned long ago and thankfully they stuck with me.

I’ve created sayings to help me remember, and quoted others who said it more eloquently than I could. So in honor of my return to blogging on a regular basis(hopefully :S), here are 47 Life Lessons.

I’ll start with one of the things that has been unfortunately has been a difficult one for me over the years. For a long time, I didn’t realize that I was unforgiving. I’ve devoted a few entries to the subject of Forgiveness:

1. Forgiveness is breaking the link to the past. “Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” ~Paul Boese
2. “I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive.”
3. “Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.” ~Henry Ward Beecher
4. “Forgiveness is a funny thing. It warms the heart and cools the sting.” ~William Arthur Ward
5. “Forgiveness is the sweetest revenge.” ~Isaac Friedmann
6. Holding bitterness is like drinking poison hoping it will kill the other person - Nelson Mandella
7. Live without regret. Let go of the past, but don’t forget it. Learn from it but don't live in it.
8. Regret is a useful emotion only if you don’t go there to live. It is a healthy emotion if it arises naturally, is experienced fully, and then passes making room for what’s next. Not allowing the emotion or not letting it leave are malfunctions.
9. Regret is one of the most debilitating of emotions. Make wise choices to avoid it. But if you fail to, only use regret to wash yourself of the past. Don’t sit and soak in it. Press on to a better future.
10. “To regret deeply is to live afresh” Henry David Thoreau
11. Apparently you’re never to old to make a complete fool of yourself.(Been there done that... recently)
12. Live and learn, learn and live.
13. Listen to the old people. Use their experience to gain wisdom and avoid unnecessary mistakes.
14. Doing right is easier said than done, but always worth the effort.
15. Never underestimate your small part in someone else’s blessing.
16. Never avoid the opportunity to be a blessing. You’ll reap an even bigger blessing than you give.
17. You can’t help how you feel, but you can help what you do about it.
18. Some choices are made with the head and others with the heart. It is wise to consider the options and consequences of each.
19. Not everybody thinks like I do, and they deserve the same respect I crave.
20. Do the best you can and make the best decision with the information you have. Just do it, and don't look back. "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do the best you can." Arthur Ashe. "When you know better, you do better." Joel Brooks
21. Grey hair is nothing to fret over. Embrace it or color it or part my hair on the other side. Either way it's my choice. I can still wear my pony tail when I feel like it. I’m remembering that the outside may change, but who I am and whose I am doesn’t “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” Isaiah 46:4
22. You can teach an old dog a new trick-- with a little extra patience.
23. Never let pride enter into a relationship or it may steal it right from under you.
24. Make decisions about love with your heart and not your wallet.
25. If you love someone, tell them and then show them--now!
26. Better is open rebuke than a hidden love. Proverbs 27:5 If you love someone, you’ll do what’s best for them, even if it means you have to confront or correct them.
27. Be you, no one else can be do it better. The world needs YOU!
28. Life is short, eat dessert first.
29. Life is short, wear the good underwear.
30. Life is short, eat those sandwiches on the good china.
31. To love and be loved, what could be more important?
32. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with what happens to you." It's all about your attitude... Choose joy!
33. It's a new day! Make it count!
34. Bloom where you are planted.
35. Relationships are most important. The most important of them all is your relationship with God.
36. Time doesn’t heal all wounds. Sometimes it takes a supernatural act of God.
37. Some of the painful things we go thru aren’t because of bad choices we’ve made, but because God is allowing it and is making you stronger and drawing you closer to Himself.
38. God doesn’t leave me to suffer. He knows suffering brings me to an end where I’ll be better than the start. And most importantly, He is with me.
39. There’s an art to knowing when to be content in whatever state I’m in and when to reach for things ahead. God sees my future, so I should ask Him what I should do. and then wait for His direction before proceeding (reminds me of this song: Yolanda’s Open Up My Heart)
40. I can’t see the future, but the God of the future see it, knows me, loves me,and wants what’s best for me.
41. Even when it rains outside, there is light.-from Yolanda Adams "Someone Watching Over Me"
42. If it sounds and looks too good to be true, it is. Prov. 14:15 “A simple man believes anything but a prudent man give thought to his steps.”
43. Spread joy. Proverbs 15:30 “A cheerful look bring joy to the heart, and good news gives health to the bones.”
44. Don’t just say it, do it. Prov 14:23 “ All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.”
45. Be very careful who you give your heart to.
46. A good friend is a comfort and a treasure.
47. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” Henry David Thoreau

Have a blessed day! And having said all that, I'm headed into The Card Castle to make myself a card. (I wonder if I'll actually ever mail it? LOL)