What I’ve Learned So Far

What I’ve learned so far. 

If you want to be really good at something there are no shortcuts. You have to do the work. You must put in the hours. 10,000 hours? Probably more.

Friendships are important. They’re like planted seeds. If you want them to grow pay attention and care for them.

“The language of friendship is not words, but meanings.” Henry David Thoreau

Don’t make yourself so busy that you forget to be grateful. Gratefulness is the key to happiness because when you’re grateful you feel joy and when you’re filled with joy you’re happy.

Marriage is difficult. Don’t always trust your feelings because they change. That thing I wrote about working really hard to be good at something. It applies to marriage. The thing I wrote about friendship. It applies to marriage. There will be good days, days that carry frustration, and many days where you’ll be grateful to have such an incredible person in your life. keep those days close to your heart. The thing I wrote about gratefulness….

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” Henry David Thoreau

Your kids are not yours. You may forget this for a while and stress about their behavior, grades, their future, but in the end, the most important thing to think about is what kind of relationship do you want to have with your children when they become adults.  When they look back on their childhood will they feel your love and acceptance?

Your thoughts are really important because they tell stories you believe which can evoke many different emotions. Tell yourself more good stories than fearful or angry stories and you’ll have a better day.

“As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.” Henry David Thoreau

While routines can bring comfort they can also bring stagnation. Get out of your comfort zone and travel before you get stuck.

It’s good to have goals and dreams, but if you become too obsessed with them you can make yourself and those around you miserable. Work toward your dream remembering to enjoy the climb. Take breaks to breathe and celebrate your work along the way.

“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” Henry David Thoreau

Live! You must listen from within and find the strength to live your life your way. Don’t wait until you’re eighty to look back, wonder where the time went and wish you would’ve done things differently. Live the gift of life.

And finally, I’ve learned that there’s so much more to learn!

“Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Henry David Thoreau