Life lessons - what are yours?

[RangeTesKopeks]

What are your most important life lessons? These could be, for example, things that you've read or heard that have really resonated with you.

(I've recently discovered the 'thought for the day' whiteboard by the Tube at Paddington station, which has definitely inspired some of my life lessons :) )

Mine so far are:

• time is the currency of life
• aim before you shoot/look before you leap
• if you always do the same thing, you'll always get the same result
• learn how to recognise and work on my own weaknesses.

Also from desiderata - have faith that everything is working out as it should.

Worse things happen at sea.

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

Dont put off until tomorrow what you can do today.

If nothing changes, nothing changes

Ooh Shoxfordian whats the second rule?

When children are little they step on your feet, when they grow up they step on your heart
Trust your gut
If you really have to ask is something is wrong (immoral wise) it probably is

'Nothing good happens after midnight'?! Loads of good things have happened to me after midnight!

You are the master of your own destiny.
Moaning gets you nowhere
Bad things will happen to you, what makes you is how you deal with them

All from members of my family:

"Sometimes, darling, you have just to stand there and hurt" - pain is not always escapable.

"Your childhood may not have been perfect, but it is over" - don't dwell on past hurts.

"What the hell makes you think anyone's that interested in you??!" - don't worry so much about what other people think of you, because chances are...they don't.

My family could have invented the concept of tough love, and I'm very grateful. They loved me ferociously, and raised to me to have a "ah, fuck it, it'll probably be OK" attitude.

"Wherever you go, there you are"

i.e. it's often a mistake to think "I could be happy if only I lived in a certain place/had certain things/did a certain job/married a certain person/lost a certain amount of weight. Because wherever and however you try to run away from your problems, you usually take them with you. So it's better to deal with them or come to terms with them than always be hankering after pastures greener.

It's always a 'friend' who hates you the most (think this is a Spanish proverb).

Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.

Keep your head, your heels & your standards high (Coco Chanel)

Pick your battles.

As someone who is an innately grumpy cow, this has helped me rise above stuff a LOT.

Be as kind as possible to as many people as possible. Nobody ever lay on their deathbed thinking, I wish I'd done fewer nice things for people I quite liked.

If it felt good when you did it, don't regret it.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Try and be kind, you dont know what shit other people are going through.
Give your child wings and the courage to fly.
It's ok to say no to people sometimes.
Don't just say no automatically to the kids, listen and decide if you really need to say no or make their request work another way.

Nothing pays like restraint of text and tongue.

Trust your gut instinct.

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Don't spend too much time at work (at the expense of time with friends/family etc). No one ever lay on their deathbed thinking I wish I'd spent more time at work.

My lovely granny wrote me a letter essentially saying there are always those better off than you and those worse off than you don't compare yourself or you may become vain or bitter. Tried to follow that one - very true.

It is true Kerala1. That dialogue in my head got me through the self-imposed shame after I left my x and started again with 'nothing'.

Nothing is relative of course.

Wanting what you have will make you happier than having what you want.

Don't rely on somebody else for your happiness.

You can't control the behaviour of others, only your reaction to it.

That last one took me a while to get to grips with. I have learned to accept that people will do what they want, in the end - you can't turn yourself inside out trying to get them to behave well. All you can do is choose not to accept it.

This too shall pass...it reminds me that if I'm having a shitty day or something it won't last forever and normality will soon resume lol

Work to live, don't live to work because if you work for a large organisation, your employer doesn't give a flying fuck about you, No matter how important, popular or indispensable you think you are.

Do the worst job from a list first.
Don't say anything about anyone that you wouldn't say to their face.
Work hard.
Do therapy.
Feel, don't try to hide from your emotions.

No one is irreplaceable.

Don't pack the detonators with the explosives.

Being weak, easily tempted and impulsive is a trait of being human.

The best indicator of someone's future behaviour, is their past behaviour.

Don't live the same year 75 times and call it a life.

Trust no one.
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.