A few months ago a Facebook friend shared how she celebrated her 30th birthday. I was impressed with her foresight to plan a special bucket list of 30 things to complete before her birthday. I’ve also seen others do random acts of service to equal the number of years they are celebrating.

Being the contemplative person I am, I thought I’d share 50 lessons I’ve learned over the last 50 years.  Today, part-two includes the last 25 things I’ve learned in the last 50 years. If you missed Part-One – Click Here.

Birthday Wisdom — Part 2

26. Weird is Relative – Embrace your idiosyncrasies. We were all created to be unique and different.  It’s the way it is supposed to be.

27. There is no mistake so large that we can’t recover. Those moments feel like the biggest failures, but I’ve learned there is almost always a silver lining – it just might not be visible right away.

28. Be kind to your body. It’s the only one you get and not any fun when it doesn’t work the way you’d like.

29. Embrace your age. If I had a choice, I’d much rather be the age I am now than a younger version of me. Sure, there are some downsides to aging, but there’s a whole lot of good stuff too.

30. The scriptures bring you closer to Christ.

Your eyes need to be wide open enough to anticipate that life will have real difficulties – but your heart needs to be wide open enough to rely on the Lord to help you solve them.” -Hank Smith

31. Don’t let what you don’t know keep you from doing what you do know – life requires faith.

32. Trusting God means trusting His timing.

33. It is important to be self-reliant but totally dependant on the Lord.

34. Listen to how you feel – be in touch with your emotions.

35. Celebrate your wins and let go of what you can’t change. Unmet expectations, negativity, other’s mistakes, guilt, your past are all baggage you don’t need to carry.  

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.” – Admiral Jim Stockdale

36. I spend more energy dreading the hard things than just jumping in and doing them.

37. I’ve learned to not to worry about the little things, and learned almost everything is little.

38. A hero is someone who has discovered the strength, skills, and understanding to enjoy a full life despite horrific problems they never thought they would be battling. A hero desires to help others by sharing what they have discovered.

39. Emotional resilience comes when I allow myself to learn from life’s storms. Oprah Winfrey once said: Turn your wounds into wisdom.

40. “IT” won’t last. Reminding yourself of the fleeting nature of life usually brings you back to the present and allows you to either enjoy the good moment or cope more effectively with the bad.

No pain that we suffer, no trial we experience is wasted.  It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility.  All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds our characters, purifies our hearts, and expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable.” -Orson F. Whitney

41. Rules don’t restrict they keep you safe.

42. I am not the exception to the rule.

43. Listen and learn from others.

44. I don’t always have to be right.

45. I’ve learned neither fear or stress improves my performance.

46. Read as much as you can.

47. Choose Distractions wisely.

48. Become a lover of learning. Seek to learn and share it with others.

49. Learn from the past, plan for the future, and live for today. 

50. Get rid of what you no longer need. The tendency to hold on only creates additional baggage – clean it up, clear it out, let go of what no longer serves you.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift – that’s why it’s called the present.” – Alice Morse Earle

Thanks for joining to celebrate my birthday! Life is great, and I am so thankful for all the experiences I’ve had to help shape me into who I am today. I know I am still so far from perfect – but perfection isn’t really my goal. Life, for me, is more about becoming.   

One of the greatest things I’ve learned is I am in control of how I live my life. And today I celebrate all I’ve learned from experience. We are not the sum of our mistakes, but the product of our experiences.

We are not the sum of our mistakes, but the product of our experiences.”

If you missed Part 1 you can read it here.

Have courage and hope in the future. Live with purpose, my friend.