Inspiration: Lessons We Wish We Had Learned Earlier…
“Never be ashamed! There are some who will hold it against you, but they are not worth bothering with.” J.K. Rowling
Inspiration: Lessons We Wish We Had Learned Earlier... Follow your heart's dream...
“If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and true enemies; succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway…
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.” Mother Teresa
Most of us have lived a full and varied life; we don’t operate from a place of regret because it would be futile to waste our energy on such things. Nevertheless, there are lessons we have all learned and wished we had a better grasp of in our youth. I tell my kids, like I was told, that “There are no mistakes or failures, only lessons.” Denis Waitley. We can embrace the life we have and trust that our experiences are golden nuggets of wisdom to share with the world. Below are twelve lessons most of us have learned over a lifetime that I have found often come up, again and again, in some fashion or form. I’m sure there are more… Feel free to share them in the comments section. Thank you! More below. 😉
♥Follow your heart and your passion – Go after what you want.
♥Carpe Diem – Time does fly even if we imagine it has stopped for us.
♥Love is not always blind – some lovers are piranhas.
♥Parents are not perfect – but most try to give us their best.
♥Neither poverty nor wealth are virtues – compassion, courage, wisdom and character matter more.
♥You can’t please everyone or be everything to everybody – Do your best and leave the rest…
If we live in a perfectly imperfect world, why can’t we treat each other with compassion? There are six more below! 😉
“Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood.” Helen Keller
Inspiration: Lessons We Wish We Had Learned Earlier... Time flies...
“Press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Ray Kroc
Life is complicated and we all go through experiences that can empower or diminish us. When we have unpleasant exchanges, we must put them in perspective and then let them go. With each humiliating event is an opportunity for growth… “Life is a long lesson in humility.” James M. Barrie. James is right, but I also believe we can make peace with our struggles and find that place of acceptance within. J.K. Rowling’s quote at the top of this post lit a light bulb in my head; I was reminded again of the impact shame can have on our lives. For those who hold onto secrets and sad memories, shame is a big part of the struggle… However, we must learn to let go and move on. Why? Because letting go is a courageous act of healing and freeing ourselves from any ancient agreements that no longer hold true in our lives, and should no longer have power over it. Let’s bury bitterness and regret, and embrace possibility and growth. Press on! More lessons below. 😉
♥What others think of you doesn’t matter – If it did, we’d all be saints or savages.
♥Not all advice is well intentioned – Reflect, reconsider, pray and decide on what’s best for you.
♥Given the chance, some “friends” will throw us under the bus – Accept that some people have a ME-ME-Only agenda and move on.
♥Persistence and Patience have eager twins waiting in the wings – Procrastination and Provocation; the evil twins – We must fight them with all our might.
♥Busy doesn’t always = productive – Some busyness is time wasted on minutiae.
♥Perfection is not required for the writing life – Just write; the more you do it, the more you’ll build, improve and grow.
What about you? What are your thoughts? Are there significant lessons you have learned over the years? Are there some that keep surfacing because you haven’t mastered the lesson? What do you do to gain clarity? What lessons has your life taught you? Do share! Thank you. 😉
This post was inspired by a prompt from WP Plinky: Share a lesson you wish you had learned earlier in life.
Positive Motivation Tip: If we see the blessings in our life lessons, we’d bury bitterness and regret, and embrace possibility and growth.
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PHOTO CREDITS/ATTRIBUTIONS: All Photos Dali Wueste, Carpe Diem via Wikipedia. And/Or via Flickr
Until Next Time…
Ask. Believe. Receive. ©
Elizabeth Obih-Frank
Mirth and Motivation
Positive Kismet
So many beaufiul advices that for sure will bring forth happiness and sense of meaning but this one struck me the most, “Follow your heart and your passion – Go after what you want.” When we follow our heart, we follow our dreams and the one thing that will make us joyfull and feel contended. Love each inspiring narrations.
Have a great weekend…
TY! What I find so sad is that many of us don’t follow our dreams for a whole slew of reasons… WE must never let our dreams die!
Fantastic post! Glad you found me so I could find you 🙂
I’m glad we connected too and I will visit your blog to say hello soon! TY! 🙂
This is my favorite for today:
Perfection is not required for the writing life – Just write; the more you do it, the more you’ll build, improve and grow.
So true. I try to write every day in hopes that I will continue to grow as a writer. Thanks for sharing the inspiration.
I write daily too and it took me a while to get over the perfection bug… it can be so debilitating! TY! 🙂
Words of wisdom! “Procrastination and Provocation; the evil twins – We must fight them with all our might.” This is one important reminder I repeatedly need because the two P’s trouble me often. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
You are not alone Bindu! It’s a constant battle. TY 🙂
Love is not always blind; some lovers are pirahnas had me laughing. I have met a few of those in my lifetime and a few Me Me friends too. We all have and your advice is excellent. Have a restful weekend.
B
TY and same to you! I know a few too and they are energy drainers. TY! 🙂
I love, love, love the Mother Teresa quote. Thanks, E!
Me too… what remarkable woman, and what a remarkable life! 🙂
What a beautiful and inspiring post, Elizabeth! This is now one of my favorites! Must absolutely share the Mother Teresa quote on FB!! Happy Weekend, my friend!
TY for sharing it on FB Karen! I’m glad you liked it. Happy Weekend! 🙂
Love this quote from Mother Theresa! Very inspirational post 🙂
By mistakes and failures, I first learnt that there is a way to behave in society, a discipline to respect. Then I learnt that sometimes it’s better to listen to our heart than to other people, because they don’t really know you that deep than you do… and that in the end some people try to change you for you to resemble them, instead of developing your own self. But we should persevere, build up our self-confidence, and do what we’ve always loved to do. The most important thing in life is happiness.
Don’t try to satisfy the others’ wants, satisfy yours, because in the end you end up alone. Not necessarily lonely, but alone… In the end YOU created your own fate, no one else. So we should ACT, not UNDERGO…
That’s what I’ve learnt so far from life lessons 😛
Good for you… You are so wise and I’m confident you will accomplish great things… Excellent points. 🙂
“Accept that some people have a ME-ME-Only only agenda and move on.”
Yes, I know of three of those throughout my life. Very good lesson I learnt.
Same here and the lessons, while painful, are empowering1 TY! 🙂
Love the Mother Theresa and J. K. Rowling quotes! And all the others as well. I also loved the life lesson about some lovers being piranhas. That one is so totally true. I spent a long time beating myself up for not recognizing the danger my daughter’s father posed to me and my children. It does no good to regret such a mistake. I took a while to learn that. Now, I wish him the best as long as he is far, far away from us! Never again, will I trust such a viper nor will I blame myself for not recognizing what lurked inside what seemed to be a kind and loving man.
I’m so sorry to read about that time in your life… The fortunate thing is that you were able to move on… So that is its own blessing. No regrets, I agree. 🙂
Love that quote from Mother Theresa. Very powerful in its simplicity.
In the space of an hour, I found myself trying to encourage two different young women who unburdened themselves to me. The second young woman kept saying how afraid she was of repeating the same old patterns. At one point, I heard myself and my words sounded so hollow, even I had a hard time being convinced that things would get better. I don’t remember ever feeling so helpless.
I hear you… sometimes, it does seem so futile. We try our best to live our lives with honor and then along comes X with the bs and the cards start unraveling again… Okay, not to be so cryptic but you understand. there are times when we know our advice is falling on deaf ears or that a situation wont change because a pattern won’t change… Oy vey!
It’s hard but we really can’t give up. You just never know when it’ll fall on the right ears or when it’ll finally click. Like, how do you watch a friend destroy her health trying to save someone else?
Another amazing posr! God Bless
Blessings to you too. TY! 😉
Some excellent advice there are more than a few of these I need to print and post on the wall in my work area.
Oh TY for stopping by… Hope all is going on well with the interviews you lined up for the project. TY ! 🙂
Be happy anyway …
Do good anyway …
It’s so important to be focused on what matters to us and to follow through, The lesson is learned when we listen to the soul and let our heart lead the way.
Wonderful post – thanks for making it all flow so easily!
TY too! I agree that we must listen the voice within and stay focused on our own goals… 🙂
What an amazing post !!! As you probably know i really enjoy the subject and you wrote about it greatly!! I wish i was less lazy so i could do work like this 🙂 Happy new year!!!
TY Giulas41! You do plenty of work already and we all need a little rest 😉
HNY to you too! 🙂
This post reminds me of one I read recently teaching that potential is nothing without perserverance! I love the opening photo of those promising moutaintops, by the way. We will only reach them by keeping on keeping on!
Yes and that is what attracted me to the mountain picture… TY! 😉
You keep me balanced.
b
You do same for me Barb… TY! 🙂
The quote from Mother Teresa is very inspirational. And, after reading the Wikipedia article on Mother Teresa, I understand the quote more fully. Thank you. Take care.
TY too for your feedback and I hope others will read the Wiki piece on her… It is very enlightening! 🙂
“Busy doesn’t always equal productive” – so true! And so too about the “friends” that would gladly throw us under a bus – forget the hurt and don’t hang around for it to happen – they were never friends in the first place
Yep… you got that right. Sadly, we have them in our lives, but we learn the lessons and vamoose! 😉
The timing on reading this post is pretty spot on. I sat down to get caught up on my reading and I took a phone call from a friend in great distress. She needed a friend. Her daughter continues to “shame” her for things well in the past–“sins” long-ago dealt with and yet unforgiven. The hurt is so deep, and there are so few words a friend can share to take away that sting, but I need your words of encouragement, Elizabeth, so that I keep the best focus. Encouragement is sometimes the very best thing we can give. Debra
I’m so sorry to read about your friend and her struggle… yes, it is painful when we have moved on but a family member brings up the shame again and again… Encouragement and prayers are needed in this instance… Healing love and light sent her way… TY!
The lesson that I’ve “experienced” time and again is that preparation and planning are good but being in the present is better. At work and at play; I’ve learned that when I respond authentically to people and my environment (rather than reading from a script I’ve created or one that was created for me) both I and the people I’m working with or playing with have an enhanced experience.
That is true… We can never be over prepared! TY! 🙂
Eliz, this post is chalked full of pearls of wisdom..I shared many of them on my facebook page.
Thank you Jeanne and I appreciate your patience! 🙂
Jen grew up in a fundamentalist Christian family. She has been the black sheep of that family her whole life, and has had to do lots of work in this area to let them go with love and choose how SHE was going to feel about herself.
This past Christmas she got to see how sad her family members are. The “perfect” child has finally done something to displease the elders, and to see how miserable they are making themselves and others around them was an eye-opener. In all fairness, they are probably just acting as they were taught to do. But how sad.
That is so sad and I hope the family will come around… Truly sad. 🙁
The hardest lesson I ever learned was that I am only responsible for my own actions and reactions to others. I like to project my values onto others and the reality is that it doesn’t work. Miriam
That is fairly common practice for many of us… You are right that we are responsible for our actions… 🙂
what a wonderful blogging week you’ve had, Eliz!!! sending a hug!
TY Leslee and I’m working furiously to catch up with your blog and the many others I subscribe to. 🙂
Oh, goodness, Eliz, no worries! You have so many threads to follow – I’m happy to be able check in from time to time and count you as a friend 😀 have a wonderful weekend!
I always like to read Mother Theresa’s wise words. “Perfection is not required. . .! TY for another inspirational, and timely, post.
It is a beautiful quote. TY! 🙂
These days I like to reflect on things that are positive. I don’t think I’ve always done this in the past. Maybe growing older has made me a bit wiser?