LESSONS

Life is like playing a violin in public and learning the instrument as one goes on. - Samuel Butler


I HAVE LEARNED THAT…

… All rivers flow to the sea, yet the sea is not full! Life is a work in progress, and knowledge is infinite. The more we learn about things, the more we discover that we actually know nothing about anything.

… Most of the things we need to know, we learned in kindergarten. The ABC’s and 123’s; good manners and right conduct; faith, hope and charity; the love and fear of God; fixing a hole, mending a sock; crossing the street on our own. The values we were taught at our mother’s feet, we carry with us through life.

… If it is to be, it is up to me. I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul. What I make of myself depends on me, because God only helps those who help themselves.

… What is essential is invisible to the eye, it is only the heart that can see ever so rightly. The heart knows what the mind cannot conjure, and feels what the body can only endure. It understands without reservation and accepts without conditions – with no questions asked and no quarters taken.

… Everyone deserves a second chance. An unfaithful partner, an errant child, a disloyal friend, a recalcitrant foe. A shot in the arm, another stab at romance, a fresh opportunity to pick up the pieces and make something of one’s self, to bask in new-fangled freedoms and relish little successes.

… Beautiful hands are hands that do. They are not afraid to get soiled from menial toil, or get ravaged by constant turmoil. Calloused by struggles, inured by pain, hardened by adversity, but strengthened and toughened by it all.

… Little things mean a lot. A smile, a hug, a pat in the back, a rainbow in the sky, a song in the air, a letter from a friend, a voice from miles away, an old photograph, a cup of coffee, a good book, a new dress, a ray of sunshine, a drop of rain. They summon a tear or bring on some cheer and make a moment last forever.

… What soap is for the body, tears are for the soul. They cleanse, they purge, they wash away inner hurts, untold miseries, shattered dreams, broken spirits. Crying is oftentimes liberating, healing and invigorating.

… People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. No man is an island unto himself. He needs people and people need him.

… Love is wonderful when it is real, when it is true. When it is light and easy, not a heavy load to carry. When it is free and breathy, not consuming or controlling.

… There’s no such thing as a free lunch, a free ride, or a free ticket to the opera. Every perk has a price tag, a string attached, a catch somewhere, a pay back at some later time. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours, and the circumstances often are not pretty.

… For everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the heaven. There is a time to win and a time to lose, a time to speak up or to hold one’s peace, a time to yield or to move forward, to leave it be or live and let live. Things happen, for a reason, in God’s own perfect time.

… True friends are hard to find. People walk in and out of our lives but few truly leave indelible footprints in our hearts. More often than not, the friendships that we forge in our youth are the ones that stay with us for the rest of our lives.

… What goes around comes around. Do not do unto others what you do not want others do unto you. The law of retribution will catch up with us, sooner or later, and taking flight is not an option.

… God hears even the smallest prayer. Whatever we store away in our innermost thoughts is unraveled before us one fine day as a pleasant surprise, a gift from somewhere, a bolt out of the blue. Whatever we pray for with all our heart, we get – and our soul, we lift.

… Blood is truly thicker than water. When all else fails, when no one steps forward, when the going gets rough, family steps up. They provide the shoulder to cry on, the rope to hold on to, the wind beneath our wings, our shelter from the storm.

… Good things come to those who wait. Patience is a virtue and haste makes waste. Think before you speak, look before you leap.