On a somewhat more serious note, here are thirty things I've learned, mostly the hard way.
1. You can do pretty much anything you set your mind to. We constrain ourselves far too often by saying we can’t do something, when the truth is that we can.
2. Money isn’t everything.
3. In the work/life balance equation, life is infinitely more important than work. No one ever died saying they should have spent more time at the office.
4. Life is not a dress rehearsal.
5. We care far too much about what other people think. I say this even though Michelle accuses me of not caring at all what other people think.
6. Even good things can be done to excess.
7. Attitude is important. Bad things happen to everyone, but your attitude will determine what you make of it. (And yes, I am a glass half-full kind of guy.)
8. Change is frightening, but changes make who we are.
9. Character and reputation are more important than we give them credit for.
10. Someone always “double-dips”.
11. No matter how inoffensive something may be, somebody will find it offensive.
12. Beer tastes better with food.
13. Food tastes better with friends.
14. Paying lots of money for a meal doesn’t mean that it will be a great meal.
15. You really only find out who your friends are when the chips are down. And quite frequently, you find out that your friends aren’t who you thought they were.
16. Everyone has a sad story to tell.
17. Ideas are simultaneously the most exciting and the most dangerous things in the world.
18. My parents were (mostly) right.
19. Almost everything worthwhile requires sacrifice of some sort.
20. Common sense isn’t really all that common.
21. People are strange.
22. You never know someone so well that they still can’t surprise you.
23. We tend to focus on how, what, when, and where. Why is much harder to answer and is frequently the only question worth answering.
24. Parents feel far more pain and pride for their children than parents do for themselves.
25. We all have unused talents.
26. Just being there when someone is hurting is more important than knowing the right words to say.
27. We talk too much and listen too little.
28. No matter how old you are, bellybuttons are funny.
29. You can say the same thing as a consultant, the difference being that they will listen to the consultant.
30. Almost everything in life is on a pendulum, from over-reaction to under-reaction, swinging from one side to another. We rarely find ourselves right in the middle.
1 comment:
Hey there,
I don't know if you check your comments, I did respond a few days ago to one of Michelle's lists (the 29th, maybe?) and wanted to let you know I am at tetrarose@epud.net if you wish to say hello. Otherwise, really enjoying your blog, on this entry I especially like nos. 3, 8, and uh, 26. Dang, 11 is good, too, and what about 22?!!
I am knitting my first pair of socks, despite growing up with constant exposure to all things handmade via mom, I never felt the desire to do any of that stuff until later in my life. I have wanted to learn to knit for several years, and finally got started a few years ago. It is fun, I go slow and crank out the gifts, this year the rage was handwarmers, aka fingerless gloves (the kind people who work outside will wear so they can use their hands in the cold-- but these are also stylish!), and now, get ready for the handmade sockies!
Love to you both, keep up the great entries, and hope to hear from ya soon.
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