I am not sharing my list of (mis-) adventures on this blog but some of the lessons I've learned in my 25 year long journey. Lessons that taught me to walk with my head high but still keeping my feet on the ground and my neck between my shoulders.
1. Be true to your self. Your measure of happiness should not be about what other people say are good or right for you but what you know would make you feel happy. If at the end of the day, when the rest of the world is no longer looking at you, and you face yourself in the mirror, you should be able to tell your self that yes, you are happy for the choices you made.
2. Be accountable for your actions and your decisions. Stand by them whether the consequences are favorable to you or not.
3. Say thank you more often; be sincere when you show appreciation. People likes to feel that they are appreciated for what they've done no matter how little it is.
4. Choose your friends and take care of them. Not everyone who tells you they are your friend are really your friends. Friends are people who respects your individuality, accepts you for your choices, and loves you for who and what you are - devoid of your material possessions and social status.
5. Laugh. Life is too wonderful not to be enjoyed. The people who thinks that life is a race are in for disappointment when they reach the finish line. They'd soon realize that they've rushed life too much that they forgot to appreciate the world, the people around them, and themselves. The end of that race is the end of their life as well. Savor each step.
6. Have faith. Believe that there is a God and that not all things can be calculated or measured. Believe in a God who is not bounded by religious doctrines or sectarian belief. Find God in your own terms and not because He was introduced to you in a certain way. Share your spiritual experience with others not intent in converting them but in making them understand and appreciate how wonderful God is.
7. Ask questions. Seek knowledge. Be thirsty for learning. Do not let your day end without you learning a new thing. When we stop learning the world becomes less interesting and life less worthwhile. Share what you've learned so that another person would find out that life is more interesting than what they thought it was.
8. Think before you speak. The tongue is such a powerful part of the body. It can build relationships. It could burn friendships. It could destroy life. Communication is irreversible. When you say something you can no longer take it back no matter how much you apologize afterwards.
9. Love fully. Love hurts but it hurts even more when you know that you have not given it all. What ifs and could have beens are the hardest enemies to fight.
10. Know your place in the world. Be proud of what you have accomplished but do not compare yourself to others. It might make you feel too proud to the point of making others feel less of themselves or it might make you feel that what you have done is so futile that it makes you feel less than them. Just know where you stand and feel a sense of accomplishment enough to make you feel confident to take on another challenge.
11. Respect people not for their social status, achievement, sexual preference, title or ideological standpoint. Respect them simply because they are people and like yourself, you'd like to be respected. A note on respect, cliche as it may seem, it is something earned and not solicited nor demanded.
12. Sex is not something you engage in to gain leverage or favor much more monetary reward. Think of it as sharing your self to another person. Choose whom to give a part of you.
13. When you complain, be sure you are ready to present an alternative option to what you are complaining about. If you complain that a system, a process or a behavior does not work, you should be ready to present a way to make it better. Otherwise, it all be noise or useless whining.
14. Plan for the future. Though it is something that is unfathomable a plan makes it a little easier to traverse. It gives you a sense of direction and a sense of fulfillment when you've reach it. Save for the rainy days more specially financially. If you are enjoying financial freedom currently, save as much as you can should some crisis strike, you'd have some cushion to fall on.
15. Find joy in simple things. Be happy that you have roof over head, people who appreciates you, food on your table, clothes on your back. If you can share what you have in excess.
16. Believe in the power that a single person has. Be a catalyst.
17. Do not be afraid to be different. Not because a great majority of your people are engaging in an action, or choosing a certain option that you have to be like them. You should stand by what you believe is right. You always have an option. Remember, not choosing is still a choice.
18. Listen. This is a skill least developed in most of us. We always talk and hardly ever listen. Listen to what the other person is saying and not saying. You would be able to understand things better. Also, listening is the simplest way of showing respect and appreciation. Each person is eager to tell his story; most are just waiting to an ear that is willing to listen.
19. Nobody could make you feel inferior without your consent.
20. Celebrate your sauces and your shortcomings. Reward yourself for your achievements. Celebrate the lessons that you learn for your shortcomings. View failure as an opportunity for improvement. Always find the positive amidst the negative and live that lesson.
21. Believe that good things still happen. Never lose hope. Hope is a good thing. It makes you the sun despite the heavy rain. Keep an optimistic heart but a realistic head. Be realistic when assessing the situation but always be hopeful that things would always turn out for the better.
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