45 Life Lessons (by Regina Brett, who wrote these when she was 50)
I checked this out on Snopes and although many emails that are sent around indicate that she’s 90, she actually wrote this when she was 50. Regina Brett is a Pulitzer Prize-winning author at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. These are fabulous and worth reading, no question…choose your favorite and post it:
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.
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. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
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 pay cheque.
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. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
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. Over prepare, 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 but 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.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
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. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”
Written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio
Tags: 45 Life Lessons, Regina Brett
4 comments 
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June 29th, 2009 at 8:08 am
This one jumps out at me: Your children get only one childhood. To continue this thought, and we only get one chance to enjoy, share, and learn from that childhood.
I told a former principal, who wanted us to work like slaves, that I didn’t have children so they could be raised by a babysitter.
I have worked hard to make margins so I can spend more quality time with my children:
1. I quit an emotionally and mentally exhausting teaching job.
2. I make sure I see my children off to school each morning.
3. I am home to greet them every afternoon.
4. I don’t check emails or answer frivolous phone calls during the weekend unless the children are gone with friends. This one was hard but I realized I wasn’t giving them uninterrupted time. They didn’t feel important. Luckily, we have a place at a lake an hour from home where we spend most of our weekends.
5. I answer and return phone calls from early morning to 2:00 p.m. After that the machine picks up. I use to let the phone interrupt movies or games we were playing. No more!
Finally, I don’t believe in indulging my children to the point where they want to do everything with me or have a friend over. I don’t entertain them and I expect them to be accountable for their own choices and behaviors. They rarely say, “I’m bored,” because on our land we always have rocks to pick, which they hate when I say, “Okay, let’s go pick rocks!” I believe the statement, “An intelligent mind is never bored.”
My children are very good at respecting my work time with very few interruptions and they seem to be better at this since I started putting in margins for them. They know that I will be available soon and the quality of our interactions will be much better than when they interrupt!
Thank you for sharing Regina’s list above. There are so many I wish I would have done sooner.
Sincerely,
Sherry Hecht
July 3rd, 2009 at 6:19 am
I love ‘OK, we can go pick up rocks.’ That cracks me up!! My mother never thought ‘I’m bored’ was a very good idea, either. But your response is the best!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 pm
Sherry,
I hadn’t thought about putting up margins for my kids, but that is a good idea! I guess I just expected them to know not to interrupt me when I am working–I always feel bad telling them I have to work–but if I clarify a boundary for them then maybe no one will feel bad. thanks for sharing! I, too, love the “..pick up rocks..” quote! Too funny!
July 6th, 2009 at 8:09 am
And I say it with such enthusiasm like it’s the best idea ever. They really dislike that.
A former colleague, whose dad owned a trucking business, gave her a toothbrush and told her to go clean the bull rack (a cattle truck) when she said she was bored.
Needless to say, it only took once!
-Sherry