Things I have learned in 34 years….

I turned 34 this year. Don’t let this picture fool you, I am not turning one year old, despite the lack of candles. We did not want to create a fire hazard.

It was a lovely day and the following day, my sister made me this wonderful pie!

I was thinking and considering some of the things I have learned in 34 years, which lately seems so very, very old. Especially when you start recounting things to your children that you remember, and they look at you oddly.

1) Life goes by very quickly. You blink and a year will be gone.

2) Spend time with friends and family. You never know when they will not be there.

3) Don’t waste time on things that are not all that important. I used to stress so much if I missed a chore on my chore list, or was behind on laundry. If I spent that time doing something more valuable, like maybe helping out a friend or spending time with family, the laundry will always be there. The chore would have needed to be redone today anyhow.

4) Don’t give up on your dreams. You may not accomplish all of them, but you can have fun trying!

5) Do things that are outside your comfort zone. Some of them, you may never enjoy (for me, that was swimming, I decided I don’t want to swim), but you may discover that you can have fun accomplishing some things you never thought you could do. I wrote a short novella length story this past month. I never thought I would actually be able to to do that.

6) Always keep your mind active. Keep learning. Don’t ever think you know it all.

7) When bad things happen in your life, don’t shove it under the rug. Deal with it. Shoving it under the rug, just makes a lump you have to go around, but it is still there. Putting it on top of the rug, well, it still has to be taken care of, but it is more obvious and can be dealt with, moved out etc.

8) Put away your pride and share with others if something is not going right in your life. Be careful with details, but don’t be so afraid, you never share.

9) This is a silly one, but staying on top of car maintenance really pays off! It can keep old cars running smoothly!

10) Last, but not least, for me, have a real relationship with God. Forget Christians, religion, rules etc. Learn to know God for Who He really is, not your idea of Him.