Thursday 30 June 2011

Another 15 Life Lessons

These are the last 15 life lessons by Regina Brett:

  1. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
  2. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
  3. Believe in miracles.
  4. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
  5. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
  6. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.
  7. Your children get only one childhood.
  8. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
  9. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
  10. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
  11. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
  12. The best is yet to come...
  13. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
  14. Yield.
  15. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Wednesday 29 June 2011

Another 10 Life Lessons

Another 10 life lessons from Regina Brett:

  1. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
  2. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
  3. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
  4. The most important sex organ is the brain.
  5. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
  6. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
  7. Always choose life.
  8. Forgive everyone everything.
  9. What other people think of you is none of your business.
  10. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

Tuesday 28 June 2011

Start Living

Think of the ramifications it would have on peoples' lives, knowing that death isn't a termination but a transformation.

It's all about the diminishment of fear so people can really start living.

Friday 24 June 2011

Another 10 Life Lessons

Below are another ten of the life lessons by Regina Brett.

  1. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up your present.
  2. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
  3. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
  4. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
  5. Everything can change in a blink of an eye. But don't worry, God never blinks.
  6. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
  7. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
  8. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
  9. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is uto you and no one else.
  10. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

Monday 20 June 2011

45 Life Lessons

My girlfriend was given a newsletter about our village. I wasn't expecting anything interesting in it, but I turned to page eight and I saw a a piece called Life Lessons which grabbed my attention.

It read the following:

A READER HAS SENT US THIS PIECE WHICH WAS SENT TO HER BY A FRIEND AND WHICH WAS WRITTEN BY REGINA BRETT, AGED 90, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, USA.

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested piece I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the piece once more:
  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 at God. He can take it.
  9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay packet.
  10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
I'll post the next set of 10 lessons tomorrow.

Thursday 16 June 2011

One Last Ride

A work colleague was deeply upset today because her horse had to be put down.

I told her that the grieving process gets easier with time. I also told her that one of the reasons we get upset when death strikes so close to home, is that we don't know what death is. But not only that, we don't know who we are.

If we knew who we were, we would come to the conclusion that death doesn't touch us - and we would look at death differently.

She told me she had a dream last night where she was riding her horse and it slowly faded away.

She thought this was horrible. 

I saw it as a beautiful goodbye.

I told her that her horse has gone from 'A' where she could see it, to 'B' where she can't. 

Her horse hasn't ceased to be. No thing we have created a 'love-link' with, ceases to be.

Death is a transition within this process we call life. It isn't the end of life. It goes hand in hand with it.

You can't die.

You're not who you think you are, you are much, much more - the same goes for your pets.

 

A Blessing Counter

Today, on my walk, I asked an elderly lady how she was doing. 

'Plodding on, love,' she said. 'Counting my blessing, as always.'

I smiled.

'I do that, too,' I said.

'You've got to,' she said. 'I always say my prayers on a night, too.'

'Really?'

'Oh yes. My prayers have been answered many times in the past.'

I believed her.

I believe that prayers work. I don't think you have to be religious in order to pray. I say my personal goals, what I would like for the future, and what I would like for others out loud all the time. Not to mention what I'm grateful for. This, in my eyes, is a form of prayer.

Am I talking to God? Don't know, maybe. 

Am I talking to my higher self? Don't know, maybe.

Am I talking to my subconscious? Don't know, maybe.

I know it works, though.