THINGS I'VE LEARNED

I've learned - That you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is be someone who can be loved. The rest is up to them.

I've learned - that no matter how much I care, some people just don't care back.

I've learned - that it takes years to build up trust, and only seconds to destroy it.

I've learned - that it's not what you have in your life but who you have in your life that counts.

I've learned - that you can get by on charm for about fifteen minutes. After that, you'd better know something.

I've learned - that it's not what happens to people that's important. It's what they do about it.

I've learned - that you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I've learned - that you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I've learned - that either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I've learned - that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, the passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place.

I've learned - that learning to forgive takes practice.

I've learned - that money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I've learned - that sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I've learned - that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I've learned - that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had and what you've learned from them and less to do with how many years you've lived.

I've learned - that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating, and what a tragedy it would be if they believed you.

I've learned - that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I've learned - that it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others.

Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I've learned - that no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

l've learned - that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other and just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do.

I've learned - that sometimes you have to put the individual ahead of their actions.

I've learned - that you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I've learned - that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will hurt in the process.

I've learned - that there are many ways of falling and staying in love.

I've learned - that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I've learned - that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help.

I've learned - that writing, as well as talking, can ease emotional pains.

I've learned - that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I've learned - that the people you care most about in life are taken from you too soon.

Listening

Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force...When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand. Ideas actually begin to grow within us and come to life...When we listen to people there is an alternating current, and this recharges us so that we never get tired of each other...and it is this little creative fountain inside us that begins to spring and cast up new thoughts and unexpected laughter and wisdom. ...Well, it is when people really listen to us, with quiet facinated attention, that the little fountain begins to work again, to accelerate in the most surprising way.

--Brenda Ueland

LIFE LESSON

I will never forget what my old headmaster told taught me. Normally when you
are only 15 years of age you do not remember most of the things that are
preached by your teachers. But, this particular story is one such lesson
that I will never forget. Every time I drift off course, I get reminded of
this story.

It was a normal Monday morning at an assembly, and he was addressing the
students on important things in life and about committing ourselves to what
is important to us. This is how the story went:

An old man lived in a certain part of London, and he would wake up every
morning and go to the subway. He would get the train right to Central
London, and then sit at the street corner and beg. He would do this every
single day of his life. He sat at the same street corner and begged for
almost 20 years.

His house was filthy, and a stench came out of the house and it smelled
horribly. The neighbors could not stand the smell anymore, so they summoned
the police officers to clear the place. The officers knocked down the door
and cleaned the house. There were small bags of money all over the house
that he had collected over the years.

The police counted the money, and they soon realized that the old man was a
millionaire. They waited outside his house in anticipation to share the good
news with him. When he arrived home that evening, he was met by one the
officers who told him that there was no need for him to beg any more as he
was a rich man now, a millionaire.

He said nothing at all; he went into his house and locked the door. The next
morning he woke up as usual, went to the subway, got into the train, and sat
at the street corner and continued to beg.

Obviously, this old man had no great plans, dreams or anything significant
for his life. We learn nothing from this story other than staying focused on
the things we enjoy doing, commitment.


We should remain true to our course; which may mean committing yourselves to
things that people around you would normally disapprove. Let nothing
distract us from being happy, let nothing else determine our fate, but
ourselves.

What makes us happy is what matters in the end, not what we acquire.