30 at 30

Ermagerd!  Erm 30!

Turning 30 has led me to think about what I have learned over the past three decades.  Below are thirty tidbits that I’ve picked up.  Enjoy!

1. The most valuable strength to have is to know your weaknesses.
2. If you don’t want to suck, then get better.
3. You can lose everything by taking the high road, but you can lose yourself taking the low road.
4. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you come up short.  That is okay.
5. Failing hurts; because failing hurts success is euphoric (when failure is a viable outcome.)
6. It is much easier to learn from a setback than a success.
7. You may not have the right to win every fight you want to fight, but you have the right to fight every fight you want to win.
8. Plan your work, and work your plan.
9. Respect and skills are earned, not given.
10. Be valuable. Always find a way to be valuable.
11. Friends are the family you choose, and family comes first.
12. You don’t know who your friends are (or aren’t) until you need them.
13. Don’t forget to tell your family that you love them.
14. Collect people and do not let them go. (I have failed miserably at this point.)
15. You don’t know how strong you are until you meet your limits.
16. The ability to be vulnerable is the human condition.
17. When friends are fighting, the first one to ask you to pick a side is almost always wrong.
18. You can’t help those who do not want to be helped.
19. If your boss is implicated in a federal ethics investigation your first week on the job, then it will likely be an unhealthy work environment.
20. The most rewarding part of teaching has nothing to do with the in-classroom experience. It is watching the young mature and develop into upstanding, outstanding human beings.
21. Don’t be afraid to take a risk and reinvent yourself.
22. There is beauty in everything, even if it is not immediately visible.
23. If you’re unhappy, then change what you are doing. Keep changing until you are happy, because life is too short to be unhappy.
24. Even a simple change of scenery can revolutionize one’s life.
25. Don’t take opportunities for granted, because they will not last forever. Tomorrows are not always guaranteed.
26. The only thing more annoying than a has-been is a never-was.
27. Fear can be paralyzing, but overcoming fear is liberating.
28. Sometimes, people say rotten things. Other times, rotten people say things.   Learn to figure out the difference and discard the latter.
29. Always have a Plan B. You will probably need it.
30. You do not know what you have until it is gone—especially time and people.