I recently celebrated a birthday, and, to my surprise, I actually enjoyed it.
It’s not that I like getting older (who does?). But unlike when I turned 20 or 30, when I took the time to reflect, I could finally see some progress in the “life lessons” catagory. Don’t get me wrong, I’m far from smug about this. If anything, I’ve become much more humble about what I don’t know. The difference is now, in my 40s, I feel like an adult.
Part of this is due to becoming a parent. Which, of course, makes me wonder that if I had children sooner, would I have been in the same place? I’ll never know, but I don’t think so. Being slightly older parents means that my husband and I had more years of other experiences – working, travelling, creating – and time to figure out who we were. And since parenthood essentially strips you of yourself for a period of time, I think it’s been easier for us to come out of the baby stages and reclaim bits and pieces of our life and put things back in perspective.
So before Alzheimer’s sets in and I forget all of this, here’s my top ten list of things I’ve learned:
10. We can learn a lot from dogs about love, loyalty, listening, and forgiveness.
9. Always give people the benefit of the doubt, as most unpleasant behavior is the result of low self-esteem or poor judgement.
8. We only get one shot at this life, so create as many memorable moments as possible.
7. When God sends you signs, pay attention.
6. Don’t waste your time with bad ice cream, bad TV, bad activities, or bad friends.
5. Trust in God always and try not to worry.
4. A good marriage takes effort and attention, and not all years will be filled with wine and roses.
3. Money and status mean nothing – because the people who are impressed by it aren’t that important after all.
2. Realize that there is not one person here on earth whose responsibility it is to make you happy.
1. Strive to always do what is right in life, and don’t worry about what people think.
So there you have it. Not novel ideas, but things that I didn’t really understand in my 20′s and learned (sometimes painfully) in my 30′s. Can’t wait to see what the next 40 years brings.
What have you learned? Anything to add?
Great post! I would add “bad wine” to number 6. “Life is too short to drink bad wine!”