Recently
I got one of those emails that friends forward to friends. (Just to be clear, real
friends only forward emails that are truly worth reading. This was one of
them.) It was a Power Point presentation entitled, 45 Lessons in Life. Mostly nature-focused pictures set to advance with inspirational music – you get the idea.
Superimposed
on the pictures were 45 statements of life philosophies. The one that caught my
attention was, “However good or bad a situation is, it will change.” Maybe not
the most profound thing I’ve ever read, but true and important to remember in
both good times and bad.
Follow
me here. I’m now on the Life Lessons track trying to think what I’d put in my
PowerPoint and then it hit me. I already did that. A few years ago, I was asked
to speak as a part of the University of Wisconsin – Madison’s Perspectives
Breakfast Series. This program series has being going on for over 20 years and
I’ve had the privilege to speak at many of them. Since this was the 20th
Anniversary Year, the organizers asked me to speak on Where Have 20 Years Gone?
Always up to a challenge, I decided to think about the lessons I’d learned over
that blink of an eye – oops, I meant 20 years. My life lessons. Here they are.
20. If you’re the mother of the groom –
buy a beige dress and keep your mouth shut.
19. Technology is fun
18. Respect your employer or get a new
one.
17. Say thank you and mean it!
16. You need to figure out what’s
important to you.
15. Family and friends are important.
14. Giggling is important.
13. Reading is important.
12. Health is important.
11. Wine and candles make food taste
better.
10. Invest in learning your craft.
9. It’s okay to be proud of your accomplishments.
8. Call your mother!
7. Vote.
6. Life ends.
5. You’re not sugar, you won’t melt.
4. Babies are the best!
3. People live up (or down) to your
expectations.
2. Make your own adventures.
1. Life is meant to be joyous.
For
those of you that have heard me speak, yes, you’re right. During the
presentation, I had a story for each of my 20 life lessons. But more
importantly the last slide asked the most significant question. “What do you know
to be true?”
Someone
else’s life lessons can be interesting, intriguing, and inspirational, but
ultimately, they’re not yours. So, use this blog entry as a catalyst to think
it through. What do you know to be true?
P.S.
You can see the Power Point that goes with this blog entry at www.SlideShare.net. Search for
Perspectives or Chris Clarke-Epstein, CSP. I just figured out how to do this, so, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it works. Let me know.
I absolutely LOVE this list! Number 20 made me LOL.
Really puts life in perspective when you make a list like this.
Thanks for sharing!!!
Posted by: Kim of Kim & Jason | March 14, 2010 at 06:59 AM