10 Timeless Lessons From A Life Well Lived
EARLIER IN THIS book we shared a list called “18 Things My Dad Was Right About.” Recently, my dad e-mailed me an addendum to his original list. It contains ten additional life lessons from the smartest grandfather I know. Enjoy.
1. Happiness cannot be travelled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed.
Happiness is the sacred experience of living every moment with love and gratitude. There is always, always, always something to be thankful for and some reason to love. So be sure to appreciate what you've got.
2. Be a student of life every day.
Experience it, learn from it, and absorb all the knowledge you can. Prepare yourself for greatness by keeping your mind conditioned with fresh knowledge and new challenges. Remember, if you stay ready, you won't have to prepare when great opportunities arise.
3. Experience is the best teacher.
Don’t try too hard to memorize the things others are teaching. Learn the best practices and then do your thing. Life itself will teach you over the course of time, and often at the right time and place, so that you will remember forever what is truly important.
4. Your choices, your actions, your life.
Never let the odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were meant to do. Continue to work hard at what you love, no matter what the challenges are. Stay persistent. Life eventually rewards those who are.
5. No one is "too busy.” It’s all about priorities.
What you focus on grows. Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Michelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, and everyone around you.
6. Be patient and tough. Someday this pain will be useful to you.
Pain is a wake-up call that guides us toward a better future. So keep your heart open to dreams, and make that change. For as long as there is a dream and positive action, there is hope—and as long as there is hope, there is joy in living.
7. It's usually better to be kind than to be right.
Be kind whenever possible. And realize that it is always possible. It takes a great deal of strength to be gentle and kind. Sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all—and to simply listen instead.
8. You can become a magnet for good things by wishing everyone well.
Judge less and love more. If you want inner peace, resist the temptation to gossip about others, or portray them in a poor light. Instead of judging someone for what they do or where they are in their life, figure out why they do what they do and how they got to where they are.
9. Only you are in charge of your attitude.
The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that that situation is over, you cannot move forward. You are responsible for how you feel, no matter what anyone else says or does. You are always 100 percent in control of your thoughts right now, so choose to feel confident and adequate rather than angry and insecure. Choose to look forward, not back.
10. Satisfaction is not always the fulfilment of what you want.
It is the realization of how blessed you are for what you have. It’s not that everything will be easy or exactly as you had expected, but you must choose to be grateful for all that you have, and happy that you got a chance to live this life, no matter how it turns out.