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 with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about..
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion, today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow. (this is SO ME)
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25.. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need. (must chant this daily)
42. The best is yet to come
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.
Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old
Only a few to add…
46. Go ahead and bite off more than you can chew. You might not realize how much you can chew.
47. Stand up for the little guy every chance you get. It is the right thing to do. Always.
48. Own every word or action you say or do. Even mistakes. OWN them. They are yours.
49. Life is a huge game of ‘give to get’…everyday. every minute.
50. Two wrongs don’t make a right. Ever.
51. Be brave. Life rewards you when you push thru your fear to the other side.
52. Happiness is a CHOICE. It doesn’t happen TO you. You must DECIDE to be happy.
53. Look for ways to help others. It is a great gift to yourself to be helpful to others.
54. Good comedy is one step away from despair and tragedy. And that in its self- is funny.
55. Life is way to short to associate with negative people. Trim the bad. Keep the good.
Add your ‘life rules’ in the comments k?
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
1. no talkie before coffee.
Love your husband fiercely, with all you have, every day. You have one life partner here on earth and you’ll never regret having a happy, strong, loving marriage. As much as you love your kids, love your husband more. Hopefully, if you do it right, the kids will move out and he will stay.
So many of these are true. The one that kills me is #9, because both my dad and my father-in-law tried to drum this into Rick and me when we were young marrieds, and we thought it was both impossible and futile. Now, on the other end of life, I can see how it adds up, and I try to impress it upon the younguns I know (with the same results as it had on us).
Oh, forgot to add mine. I guess it could be summed up as:
Expect the best.
I find that when I expect people to be kind and fair, more often than not it happens. When I’m in a foul mood and expect people to be cranky and unhelpful, guess what?
Love is a choice, not a feeling. Every day you must CHOOSE to love your husband (some days more than others). If you rely on feelings you will be led astray. Things aren’t always sunshines and roses. Don’t focus on your feelings in the low moments – choose to love.
Please know that Regina Brett, author of 50 Life Lessons, is not 90 years old (don’t feel bad – that misinformation is all over the internet), but she is indeed wise. She is actually 53 years old; she is the senior metro columnist at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland (Ohio’s largest weekly newspaper); she was a finalist in both 2008 and 2009 for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary; and she has a book based on her 50 Life Lessons coming out in April of 2010. You can check out her website by going to http://www.reginabrett.com where you will see that all I’ve written here is true !! Regina also recently wrote a column for The Plain Dealer about “internet aging, which you can read here: http://tinyurl.com/ktdh3a And finally, you can also read all of her past columns, including the columns nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, at http://www.cleveland.com/brett
One of my favorites is from Yoda. “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Eat your vegetables and visit your dentist twice a year.
Really, what more could I add?