- BY NEHA
Life’s
myriad experiences teach us all a
diverse gamut of lessons. While some experiences in life are a bitter pill to swallow,
in retrospect it is these ‘tough’ experiences that actually enable us to evolve
the most.
Having
lived in 5 different countries, I have had my share of pleasant and not-so
pleasant experiences. In today’s blog post I want to briefly touch upon the 20
main lessons I have learned in my life till date. While I understood some of
these lessons much earlier in life, some have been quite recent realizations and
few are from just last year. I am sure that as life goes on I will keep adding
to my list of lessons learned. In fact, the more the lessons I learn each year,
the more I know I have evolved as a human being. It has now become a yardstick
for me to ascertain my personal growth year after year. So here we go….
1. Oprah Winfrey, someone I admire a lot, often cites the following
quote from Maya Angelou: “When people show you who they are, believe
them.” Unfortunately, most of us do the exact opposite. When someone we
adore and/or trust, does something that hurts us or belies our faith in them,
we make excuses for their bad behavior and spend a lot of time in denial. Deep
down we know what they are doing is incorrect but we put up with it because we
have invested so much in that relation already and it would crush us to see it all
go waste.
2. Forgive and let go.
Forgiving someone who has wronged you rids you of the emotional baggage that is
weighing you down from progressing.
3. Happiness is a choice
that we can make every single moment of our lives. Don’t postpone happiness to
some imaginary day in the future.
4. Don’t fret over or complain
about things that are not in your control, such as the weather, the economy,
the Government, the infrastructure, other people, etc. It is a sheer waste of
time, energy and mental space.
5. You are responsible for how YOU feel and what YOU think. Don’t give this power away to
anyone else.
6. STOP worrying about the
future, as the future is only a fictitious story we are telling ourselves. All
we have is NOW – this very moment.
7. Be grateful.
Appreciating your life as is and being grateful for every moment enables you to
seek the best in other people and make the most of all opportunities presented
to you.
8. Avoid judging other
people. You have no idea what they might be going through.
9. Stop resisting.
Surrender and accept what is and have faith in what is to come. Remember “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the
oak that resists” (Japanese Proverb).
10. What others think of
you is none of your business.
11. There is no emotional
pain that time cannot heal.
12. Make peace with your
past. Mistakes you made, don’t define your future.
13. Don’t settle for less
than what you truly want. The old adage, ‘something
is better than nothing’ is essentially rooted in fear and lack of abundance.
14. Don’t invest more time
in a relationship that has gone bad.
Stop throwing good money after bad.
15. Have the courage to
truly apologize when you feel you’ve wronged someone.
16. Smile a lot and be an
outstanding listener.
17. No one other than your
parents can love you unconditionally, whether or not you choose to live with
them or look after them.
18. Be genuine in your
compliments. Flattery never works in the long run.
19. True love and true friends are rare.
Cherish them forever.
20. Be considerate of
other people’s opinions, without feeling the need to defend or justify yours.
Live your life according to the values you believe in.
This Blog is like all the others, a must read and a lesson to understand
ReplyDeleteI totally agree on all points. Being realistic and an average human being, burdened with responsibilities of everyday life, uncertainty of the near future, and working hard to imbibe all the virtues of leading a good life with positive thinking, I wonder as to what extent we all follow these lessons.
ReplyDeleteI read at least one motivating and inspirational quote every day to keep my spirits high and take all the stress that is imminent for any working person. One of the most uplifting quote is by Charles R Swindoll about ATTITUDE. We are living in a world inhabited by millions of people and we interact with our coworkers, relatives, friends, almost every minute of the day so what is the impact on us! We need to know one thing that we have no control over another person's choice of words or his or her behavior. So how do we absorb all this and still be positive and happy?
I would like to share this quote that I read almost everyday, "Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, money, circumstances, than failures and success, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, ability, or skill. It will make or break a business, a home, a friendship, an organization. The remarkable thing is I have a choice everyday of what my attitude will be. I cannot change my past. I cannot change the actions of others. I cannot change the inevitable. The only thing I can change is Attitude. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it." Charles R Swindoll
I agree on all points and I also agree that we have to live life by principles and be the role model that we want our next generation to be like. However being a normal human being, trying to make ends meet, dealing with stresses of everyday life but still trying to stay positive and keeping spirits high, is no ordinary achievement for any person. I have a habit of reading at least one inspirational quote everyday and I would like to share with everyone this quote by Charles R Swindoll about ATTITUDE.
ReplyDelete"Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, money, circumstances, than failures and success, than what other people think, say, or do. It is more important than appearance, ability, or skill. It will make or break a business, a home, a friendship, an organization. The remarkable thing is I have a choice every day of what my attitude will be. I cannot change my past. I cannot change the actions of others. I cannot change the inevitable. The only thing I can change is attitude. Life is ten percent what happens to me and ninety percent how I react to it.”
― Charles R. Swindoll