101 Timeless Lessons Life Teaches

Me, snowboarding at Mt. Tremblant, April 2008

  1. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day
    of your life for it.
  2. In life, you usually get what you ask for, but it rarely comes
    in the package you think it’s supposed to come in.
  3. Never let one bad day make you feel like you have a bad
    life.
  4. Just because today is a terrible day doesn’t mean tomorrow won’t
    be the best day of your life.  You just got to get there.
  5. Tell the truth, or eventually someone will tell it for you. 
  6. A mistake is an accident.  Cheating and lying are not mistakes. 
    They are intentional choices.
  7. Sometimes the person you want most is the person you’re better
    off without.
  8. Some people cannot stand that you’re moving on with your life,
    and so they will try to drag your past to catch up with you.  Do not help them
    by acknowledging their behaviour.  Keep moving forward.
  9. Surround yourself with positive people who are going to push you
    toward greatness.  Eliminate those who are trying to keep you from
    it.
  10. Don’t let something that doesn’t matter cause you to lose
    something that does.
  11. Sometimes people aren’t who they seem to be, and sometimes
    people are so much more than you originally thought.
  12. Loving someone isn’t just about saying it every day, it’s
    showing it every day in every way.
  13. Maturity is not when we start speaking about big things, it’s
    when we start understanding the small things.
  14. Of all the things that can be stolen from you – your
    possessions, your youth, your health, your words, your rights – what no one can
    ever take from you is your freedom to choose what you will believe in, and who
    and what your heart will love.
  15. When you can forgive yourself and others and stop the
    imprisonment, you’re creating the love of your life.
  16. Not forgiving is like drinking poison and expecting the other
    person to die.
  17. Age wrinkles the body.  Quitting on your dreams wrinkles the
    soul.
  18. The past can’t hurt you anymore – not unless you let
    it.
  19. Holding on to the unchangeable past is a waste of energy, and
    serves no purpose in creating a better future.
  20. Sometimes you’ve got to emotionally let go of the things that
    once meant a lot to you, so you can move beyond the past and the pain it brings
    you, and open the next chapter in your life.
  21. The path to our destination is not always a straight one.  We go
    down the wrong one, we get lost, and we turn back.  But maybe it doesn’t matter
    which road we embark on.  Maybe what matters is that we embark.
  22. It doesn’t matter if you’ve failed or if you’ve been beaten. 
    All that matters is that you learn something, get back up, and try again. 
    Because winning is a good feeling, but winning when nobody else thought you
    could is an awesome feeling.
  23. Knowing yourself is one thing, but truly believing and living as
    yourself is another.  With so much social conditioning in our society, we
    sometimes forget who we are.
  24. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more
    time.
  25. You can grow stronger from the pain if you don’t let it destroy
    you.
  26. Tell the negativity committee that meets inside your head to sit
    down and shut up.
  27. The worst person to be around is the one who complains about
    everything and appreciates nothing.  Avoid these people at all costs.
  28. Live in such a way that if someone decided to speak badly of
    you, no one would believe it.
  29. If you love someone, tell them.  For hearts are often broken by
    words left unspoken.
  30. Life is shorter than it often seems.  Sometimes we are only
    given a few minutes to be with the ones we love, and hundreds of hours to spend
    thinking of them.  Cherish the moments you have with your friends and family,
    because in one single second they can be taken away from you forever.
  31. Things change, but the sun always rises the next day.  The bad
    news: nothing is permanent.  The good news: nothing is permanent.
  32. It’s your road, and yours alone.  Others may walk it with you,
    but no one can walk it for you.
  33. We often accept the love we think we deserve.
  34. If someone can’t accept you at your worst, they don’t deserve
    you at your best.
  35. Without communication there is no relationship; without respect
    there is no love; without trust there’s no reason to continue.
  36. If you leave someone at least tell them why, because knowing
    you’re not worth an explanation is even more painful than being
    abandoned.
  37. Speak when you are very angry, and you’ll make the best speech
    you’ll ever regret.
  38. Choose your words carefully – they can’t be taken back once you
    give them away.  Harsh words are like bullets – they can leave deep wounds.  And
    most of the time saying “sorry” is not enough to heal the wounds you
    leave.
  39. Never make a big decision when you’re angry, and never make a
    big promise when you’re overjoyed.
  40. It makes no sense to be second in someone’s life when you know
    you’re good enough to be first in someone else’s.
  41. Take all the time you need to heal emotionally.  Moving on
    doesn’t take a day; it takes lots of little steps to be able to break free of
    your broken self.
  42. There is a difference between giving up and knowing when you
    have had enough.
  43. Sometimes a break from your routine is the very thing you
    need.
  44. When you find yourself cocooned in isolation and despair and
    cannot find your way out of the darkness, remember that this is similar to the
    place where caterpillars go to grow their wings.
  45. Don’t count the number of friends you have; count the number of
    friends you can count on.
  46. Sometimes, the people who are thousands of miles away from you,
    can make you feel better than people right beside you.  That’s a sign of love
    and true friendship.
  47. There are times when family are like strangers, and strangers
    are like family.
  48. Life is not about making others happy.  Life is about sharing
    your happiness with others.
  49. When someone tells you, “You’ve changed,” it might simply be
    because you’ve stopped living your life their way.
  50. If you’re lucky enough to have something that makes you
    different from everybody else, don’t ever change.
  51. Know your worth!  When you
    give yourself to someone who doesn’t respect you, you surrender pieces of your
    soul that you’ll never get back.
  52. Imperfections are important, and so are mistakes.  You get to be
    good by learning from your mistakes and you get to be real by being
    imperfect.
  53. The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are
    afraid to do.
  54. The mind is like a parachute.  It doesn’t work unless it’s
    open.
  55. The difference between who you are and who you want to be, is
    what you do.
  56. If you really want to know where your destiny lies, look at
    where you apply your time.
  57. You are where you are right now because of the actions you’ve
    taken, or maybe the inaction you’ve taken.
  58. Be sure to taste your own words before you spit them
    out.
  59. Let the constant growth and improvement in your own life keep
    you so busy that you have no time left to criticize others.
  60. When you try to control everything, you enjoy nothing.  Go for
    long walks.  Indulge in great conversations.  Question your assumptions.  Love
    yourself.  Pay attention to the moment.  Be a little crazy.  Count your
    blessings.  Let go for a little while and just be.
  61. Just as we cannot see that a seed has taken root until it breaks
    through the surface, we cannot always see our own growth happening until it does
    the same.
  62. Don’t ever change just to impress someone.  Change because it
    makes you a better person and leads you to a better future.
  63. Feelings are like waves in the ocean; we can’t stop them from
    coming, but we can choose which ones to surf.
  64. Being happy doesn’t always make us grateful, but being grateful
    will always make us happy.
  65. Smile every chance you get; not because life has been easy,
    perfect, or exactly as you had anticipated, but because you choose to be happy
    and grateful for all the good things you do have and all the problems you know
    you don’t have.
  66. It’s nice to have money and the things that money can buy, but
    it’s also important to make sure you haven’t lost track of the things that money
    can’t buy.
  67. If you’re finding it hard to be grateful for anything, sit down
    close your eyes and take a long slow breath and be grateful for oxygen.  Every
    breath you take is in sync with someone’s last.
  68. Life is like a rainbow, you need both the sun and the rain to
    make its colors appear.
  69. It’s better to be alone with dignity than in a relationship that
    requires you to sacrifice your self-respect.
  70. Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another
    person or event to control your emotions.
  71. Moving on can mean that you’re making a choice to be happy
    rather than hurt.  It doesn’t mean that you’re giving up. 
  72. Decide to smile and make the best of it; it’s good for your
    health.
  73. Don’t let loneliness drive you back into the arms of someone you
    know you don’t belong with.
  74. Love is not about sex, going on fancy dates, or showing off. 
    It’s about being with a person who makes you happy in a way nobody else
    can.
  75. You don’t need a perfect one.  You just need someone who you can
    trust – who shows you that you’re the only one.
  76. There are people in your life whom you knowingly inspire simply
    by being you.
  77. Everyone says love hurts, but that’s not true.  Loneliness
    hurts.  Rejection hurts.  Losing someone hurts.  Envy hurts.  Everyone gets
    these things confused with love; but in reality love is the only thing in this
    world that covers up all pain and makes someone feel wonderful again.  Love is
    the one thing in this world that does not hurt.
  78. Real friendship is a promise made in the heart.  Silent. 
    Unwritten.  Unbreakable by distance.  Unchangeable by time.
  79. Good relationships are not just about the good times you share;
    it’s also about the obstacles you go through together, and the fact that you
    still say “I love you” in the end.
  80. Do small things with huge amounts of love.  You’ll see
    why.
  81. Sometimes people don’t notice the things others do for them
    until they stop doing them.
  82. Sometimes we expect more from others because we would be willing
    to do that much for them.
  83. Look at yourself and remember, people in far worse situations
    have done far more difficult things than this.
  84. The best thing that you can do in life is follow your
    intuition.  Take risks.  Don’t just make the safe and easy choices because
    you’re afraid of what might happen.  If you do, nothing will ever
    happen.
  85. Most of the time happiness doesn’t come from money or fame or
    power; it comes from good friends and family, and from the quiet nobility of
    leading a good life.
  86. Lying is done with both words and silence.
  87. When something bad happens you can either let it define you, let
    it destroy you, or you can let it strengthen you.
  88. Don’t waste your time being upset about something you can’t
    change.  Start again right now and do it better this time.
  89. No relationship is ever a waste of time.  If it didn’t bring you
    what you want, it taught you what you do NOT want.
  90. You can’t always be agreeable. That’s how people take advantage
    of you. Sometimes you have to set boundaries.
  91. The road to success is always under construction.
  92. Not trying is failing.
  93. Don’t be afraid of going slowly; be afraid of standing still
    forever.
  94. The only time you should look back is to see how far you’ve
    come.
  95. Stop wasting time regretting what you did a year ago.  Start
    doing what you have to do now, so that in a year’s time you won’t regret what
    you did today. 
  96. It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it how many times
    you get back up.
  97. Follow your heart regardless of what others tell you to do.  At
    the end of the day it’s you that has to live with your decisions, not
    them.
  98. One of the greatest freedoms is truly not caring what everyone
    else thinks of you.
  99. The hardest part about growing is letting go of what you were
    used to, and moving on with something you’re not.
  100. The best things happen when you least expect it.  Just sit back
    and enjoy the ride.
  101. Sometimes you have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. 
    Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how
    it’s meant to be.

Follow:
Share:

Looking for Something?