Musings: 15 of the Most Important Lessons I Learned So Far

It’s my birth month! I am way pass the stage when I dreaded the day I become a year older. I figure, nothing is more important and exciting than living your life each day than worrying about your age. My heart’s desire is to make sure that I don’t wake up one day and regret a lot of things that I should have done while I have the time.

I try to live in the present by cherishing every moments I shared with the people I love and matters the most – family and friends. I tend to worry less about the future now.

Also, I wouldn’t trade all the lessons I learned in my existence in this world. To be honest, sometimes I commit the same mistakes and neglect to apply what I have learned. But it is what it is – again sometimes with a slight regret in the end. There is a saying that you should never blame anyone in your life. Good people give you happiness. Bad people give you experience. The worst people give you a lesson and the best people give you memories.

I came up with the list of the most important lessons that I carry in my heart hoping to pass it on to my children.

Stop thinking what other people will say. Stop being conscious of your appearance, background, likes, passion, dreams and so on. The truth is nobody effing cares! What are you going to do if you meet some nosy people along the way? Ignore. You don’t owe them an explanation. As long as you are not offending anyone just be yourself.
Travel while you are young. Immersing ourselves in a different environment, culture, tradition, beliefs and even food can be one of the best educations we will learn outside of a classroom.
No one is too old or too young to chase their dreams. If you finally fulfill a dream, make another one.
Pain is only temporary. Forgive to find peace then heal slowly.
Love yourself first. If you love yourself, you will know when to walk away from the people who make you feel unwanted, ignored or being taken for granted. You know your worth and will never settle for anything less.
Hate drama? Eliminate toxic people from your life. Your world will be brighter and rosier the moment you stay away from negative people.
Be humble. I think humility is the least virtue being practiced nowadays. We always strive to be the best. When we achieved our goals and finally had a taste of success, we tend to use that to intimidate people. Nothing but the best should be served on our plate. Accepting that we may be wrong can be difficult.
Always be kind. We seek to be brilliant in everything we do that we tend to forget to be kind. I strongly believe that a simple act of kindness even to strangers we encounter everyday will go a long way. Imagine the positive impact you can inflict on someone who is having a rough day.
Happiness is a choice. Oh sure, it is sometimes hard to find the silver lining in a very difficult situation. But at the end of the day, you decide how to tackle it. Will you choose to remain in bad spirit or never allow it to dampen your day to be happy?
Have patience. Social media is a great way to connect and maintain a relationship with our peers. As much as we are happy to hear a friend’s promotion, their new travel destination, announcements of pregnancy, new-born child, getting engage or a wedding, sometimes we can’t help but feel a slight envy over their success, luck or fate. We can’t help but compare our current situation. Don’t fret! Everyone has a timeline and your time will come. Meanwhile, continue to work hard and enjoy the ride.
Change is inevitable. Have an open mind and heart and accept that change is part of life. Don’t be scared of change because believe me it will help you grow as a person.
Practice gratitude.
Life is not (going to be) fair. There will be instances wherein no matter how hard you work or how serious and true you are in a relationship, some people will still turn their backs on you or reject you. It will make you feel that you are not good enough. I say, don’t let this lose your faith in the goodness of other people.
Don’t be scared to fall in love. I know it is very painful to be heart-broken but love is a magical feeling. Sound corny right? But when you are in love and you feel loved there is some sort of force so powerful and strong it will make you believe you can conquer anything and everything.
Take risks. No reward don’t risk it or don’t risk it no reward? Stepping out of our comfort zone is scary. We fear the unknown. What’s my take away? Better live with oops, oh well, not again rather than with what ifs. If all else fails just charge it to experience.