50 Lessons of Life

A friend sent this to me. I did a bit of research on it and found a few more lessons Regina offered. It is just too good not to share :-)

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons

and 5 to grow on

by Regina Brett

THE PLAIN DEALER
Cleveland, Ohio

50 Years Old

Sunday May 28, 2006, 10:13 AM

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Regina Brett at the Plain Dealer

Out for Our Sunday Walk

Our Dad :-)

Happy Father's Day to Those Fathers Out There :-)

My father is long gone, but I still miss the time we had together. Something I have never talked about was my dad. I cherish the few precious memories I had of him and I have let go of all the hurt he caused over the years - don't we all do things we later regret? Some things cannot be forgiven, but some mental illnesses you just learn to live with and work around. Yes, my dad was mentally ill. That is a difficult thing for me to say but it is true.

Being mentally ill in those early years of my life was a horrible thing - and seldom people got help for it. I have no idea when dad's mental problems started, but eventually his reality was that he never knew truths from untruths. I honestly think he meant well, but it always came back to hurt us. Eventually dad went his separate way and we struggled on until we were raised. Occasionally he came back into the picture, but we never were really close again. However, I had 11 years of having a loving father and I cherish that time even though it was often confusing.

How does a child have so much confusion from a parent and still love them? Dad never physically hurt me. He often promised things or said things that hurt, but he never laid an unloving hand on me. I love him for that. His mental illness got worse over the years and unfortunately, my siblings and step mom remember his most horrible days. I am the lucky one - I remember the good ones and just a few of the nasty times. Dad will always be a fond memory; I am glad God chose him to be my father. Just think, without him, I would not have the wonderful siblings I have :-)

Hug your dad if you are still lucky enough to have him. Without him, you would not be you... now isn't that a thought?

If you have a step-father give him a big hug for putting up with your mom :-)



Love ya, dad! (Photo courtesy of Liz's blog)

Steve and I went out for a walk today. I had told him I would love to walk aimlessly with no destination in mind. We set out walking from the condo and went around the outdoor stadium. We had never been all the way around it, and since it is in the process of being torn down, we expected it to be deserted. When we initially walked up, it appeared to indeed be deserted.




However, when we went to the far side, there were these little... hmm... umm... go carts (?) racing. That is a full sized man you see there!




Then I found a fountain of leaves...



Oh wait! It had a sunbird in it!


I found a butterfly... or was it the flower that caught my attention?




A submajeep:




A few guys having a relaxing day of play:




Rescue workers in training:




We found an awesome Banyan tree:




A cool old building:




And this little guy:




Who was REALLY little!




Every day is a journey to embrace.

Just Ramblings

WARNING: This is just a rambling post... mostly little nothings, but today my thoughts are scattered like that. It is ok for me to have a little nothing day, right?

Debbi and I were out walking yesterday and we found a critter :-) Actually, for once someone ELSE spotted a critter - Debbi. (I think it is because she has such a deep love for them - kinda like Pam's fondness of the same critters)



He is actually quite nice sized, about a foot long... I am thinking Debbi can tell you exactly how long :-)

Steve and I went shopping today and I thought of the old days when I had my brother and sisters with me most of the time. Granted back then my friend, Jeanie, had a AMC Gremlin (WOW, there's a blast from the past!) to stuff the kids in the back of, but this would have been even better. Heck, they might still be 'hiding' here...




I thought of a friend when we were out and wondered how she and the family are doing:




Does anyone know the story of the people tree? I pass it often and I always wonder what their stories are... Do they each have names? Is their level on the tree in order of importance?




Do you think he fell asleep when Ronald was talking to him? Did Ronald notice?




The lanterns in China Town are fun to look at, though hanging them must not be so fun:




Steve and I love playing games. I have probably said that a time or two, but we laugh a lot when we play them and it is relaxing. Our neighbors look at us a little odd, but that is ok. I don't hear quite enough laughter from their places.




Here is Steve losing.



The picture was taken three hands before he won.


Did you hear the fireworks tonight? They are set off right next to the flyer - I love listening to them from our balcony while I am busy trying to get the right lens on the camera, set it up for remote and oh darn - "Grab the tripod!"

The picture came out great though:



Please just imagine the fireworks in all that smoke, k? They would be right there in front of that red light on the building to the right of the Flyer.


I did finally remember to get a picture of the 'rice' building as I call it. What is its real name?



Love our balcony view. Have I ever said that?

It Sounded Almost Like M*A*S*H

Sitting on the sofa in my jet-lagged stupor, I heard helicopters off in the distance. It was one of those droning sounds that you can almost ignore - except it kept getting louder and louder, until it finally just became downright annoying. It was, after all, disturbing one of my few and far between tv programs. With annoyance, I got up and went onto the balcony expecting to see the 'mosquito police' patrolling the neighboring condos. Was I ever surprised at what I would see.

A chopper outside our balcony:




More choppers in the distance:




Many more choppers - what were they pulling?




And many more reinforcements:




MILLIONS of choppers... ok, well not millions, but there are a few of you that know where this came from...

And finally, I could see the Singaporean flag being proudly pulled around the island!




They came right past our condo :-)




Not the mosquito police at all. Just another day in paradise.



Getting ready for National Day :-)

We've Officially Been to Alaska!

And we stayed all night in a luxury hotel in Tokyo thanks to mother nature, but I am not allowed to collect plates or hat pins for those destinations - I didn't get to get to know the land and see the sights :-(

I am one of those people that watch the screen shots of where the plane is going, how long we have been in the air, how long we have to go and how stinkin' cold it is outside the windows of our safe little cocoon.

For the first time, I watched as the plane went from the normal west flow to circling back over our previous path and going east. At first I thought it was the all famous computer glitch - but I knew something was up when the entire crew was whispering among themselves and our destination had gone from 11+ hours to a mere 51 minutes - in Anchorage! There was still no explanation from the pilot and finally I nervously nudged Steve and pointed to the monitor. He nodded and said he had been watching it too.

Finally, the pilot came on with the grim but welcoming news - a volcano in our path had erupted and we were being diverted to Anchorage to get more fuel so we could fly around it, through Russia and come back to Japan. He reassured passengers that it was not a Japanese volcano, but a volcano on a small Russian island.

I must say the only real glitches in the entire diversion was in Anchorage where it took longer than planned for customs to get a flight change clearance, a passenger getting ill and promptly being removed (with his family) from the plane, and of course the extra long hours it tacked on to our journey.

I cannot imagine what these places of diversions were slammed with! Suddenly their quiet little airports being deluged with dozens of planes needing fuel and reserviced must have thrown a kink into the long days of work. It was rather prompt all things considered. Everyone on the plane was quite pleasant and we were back in the air as soon as we got our rerouting plan and the passenger and his family were evicted. Our nice little arc on the screen had turned into a nice little "Z's" and "S's". We seemed to be doing loops and curves to get to Tokyo, but we finally did make it.

When we got off of the plane, we had no idea what to expect. The China destined people were informed the connection had waited, but beyond that, we had no idea when we would be heading out. Steve and I knew without a doubt we had missed our fight - heck we were more that 3 hours later than when it would have left. Looking around curiously we found nice, tidy little signs with destinations written on them; Manilla, Vietnam, Moscow, Beijing... and Singapore - and HUGE lines of people.

At the counter after an amazingly short wait, we were told our flight out was a 11:15am "tomorrow". We were instructed to follow the lines to customs and on to a shuttle - and we would be given further instructions as we made our way through the lines. The lines were long and we expected hours of delays - but those lines zipped right along; we were given a 90 day visa into Japan, a card with a shuttle number and hotel name on it, and then whisked off to a preassigned hotel.

At the hotel, we were promptly and very politely checked in without question, handed a room key, two meal tickets, complimentary flight and airport discounts for our 'inconvenience' and a specific time circled to catch the shuttle to the airport for our flight. It was insane - looking at the lines we thought every new line was the catch - but we zipped quickly through each new line and recieved precise instructions on where to go next. There were hundreds of people in the same boat as we were - and we were all quickly and efficiently being taken care of with apologizies for the delays - ummm, not sure what they were talking about. We were spinning through the procedures as fast as humanly possible! Everyone was amazed and we were all laughing and visiting amongst us.

After a quick meal, we rested, showered and were back in route in no time. Finally arriving here in Singapore after 2 days in transit, I must say it was nice to have a place to light - even if I am up at 1am writting about it. So, we now have a Japanese stamp on our passport and have seen how efficiently the Japanese can whisk diverted passengers around - and still make them feel welcome and important.

When we arrived here, we were not even upset to see our luggage had gotten soaked in the Tokyo downpours - man, can you imagine all the luggage that was being tossed around to different carriers? I was super proud to see it had even MADE it back to us - entirely soaked or not!

A few inconveniences:








A few pleasantries:














A few new experiences:






A new friend Angela who loves picture books (yes, Steve tormented her as well - does he never stop teasing?):




The "Welcome Home" voiced from our host country customs agent and the taxi view of our second 'home' country:



I must say, it was nice to get back 'home' even if we had to leave our beloved other home. I never look forward to leaving the states, but Asia is once again a breath of fresh air - the welcoming politeness and never ending smiles are a reminder of how it should be around the world.

Hundreds of stranded commuters, hundreds of workers in multiple countries working together, three flight carriers, many new acquaintances and not one rude person :-)

You cannot ask for a more convenient inconvenience. Great job everyone!