I have less than 24 hours before I make 50 – and I have to say I feel more like me than I ever have before, so thank god for the aging process and how as your body heads south, your mind heads north. I put together 50 lessons I’ve learned – some are original, borrowed, recycled, plagiarized, but all I declare my own on my very own blog:<\/p>\n
#1 – We are helpless to change some of the things that matter to us, and the best thing we can do is to just accept that our power lies in letting some things be.<\/p>\n
#2 \u2013 If you sleep on anything, it will seem easier in the morning. Maybe not the next morning, but in a few mornings, you\u2019ll nail it or move past it.<\/p>\n
#3 \u2013 Chemistry between lovers is the eighth wonder of the world. There is nothing like it, nothing that can be explained about it, and nothing you want or could do about it.<\/p>\n
#4 \u2013 The meaning of life is to live it.<\/p>\n
#5 \u2013 Establish a credo very early on and live it \u2013 mine is \u201cGive me a place to stand and I will move the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
#6 \u2013 My other credo is \u201cFake it till you make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
#7 \u2013 The word mother is the weightiest word in our vocabulary \u2013 father doesn\u2019t carry the same burden. You can blame your mother for just about anything that is wrong with you and hold her accountable for every one of your shortcomings. She that rocks the cradle rocks the world is an understatement.<\/p>\n
#8 \u2013 If you eat more than you exercise, you gain weight.<\/p>\n
#9 \u2013 My 20-year-old self could not have handled my 50-year-old self.<\/p>\n
#10 \u2013 Loving your body is the single loving act of kindness you could ever do for yourself.<\/p>\n
#11 \u2013 Everyone has to work even if you are very rich or very poor.<\/p>\n
#12 \u2013 Exercising your body expands your mind.<\/p>\n
#13 \u2013 Dancing is the manifestation of bliss.<\/p>\n
#14 \u2013 If you find a job you love, you will be rewarded with more riches than you could ever imagine.<\/p>\n
#15 \u2013 You know how they say pick your battles; well, it\u2019s not that you couldn\u2019t win all your battles, it\u2019s that no one would like you if you did.<\/p>\n
#16 \u2013 Every time you do one nice thing for a stranger or a stray animal you add to your karma.<\/p>\n
#17 \u2013 Write out goals for the next year or the next five and then be prepared to scratch them all off your list.<\/p>\n
#18 \u2013 There is always more to learn.<\/p>\n
#19 \u2013 Be grateful for everyone who has ever loved you. It ain\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
#20 \u2013 Try not to follow, you don\u2019t have to lead, but it is good to walk alone at times.<\/p>\n
#21 \u2013 Take photographs not for posterity but to enjoy now.<\/p>\n
#22 \u2013 Too much of anything is no good for you baby. Evil means excess.<\/p>\n
#23 \u2013 Invite people over to your house and make them a meal. This is what adults do. If people invite you over, thank them for their generosity. People who don\u2019t invite people into their house to eat with them are missing something sacred.<\/p>\n
#24 \u2013 Eat well. Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and humanely raised, if not organic, meat. Simple food is so good and yet so out of mental reach for too many.<\/p>\n
#25 \u2013 Pick a day out of the year to reflect on the past 365 days and the upcoming 365 days, apologize to those you have wronged and forgive those who have wronged you, and come to peace with your self. I do this on Yom Kippur \u2013 it\u2019s my tradition borne out of my religion but it has high application to a secular life.<\/p>\n
#26 \u2013 My mother told me that at 25 years old, my belief system would shift and then at 35 years old it would shift again, and that I wouldn\u2019t become a woman until I was 50 years old. She was right.<\/p>\n
#27 \u2013 Embrace each stage of your life by shedding your skin.<\/p>\n
#28 \u2013 Some of us are natural born givers, some are takers; be both.<\/p>\n
#29 \u2013 Explore your sexuality.<\/p>\n
#30 \u2013 Feet of clay \u2013 forgive yourself your trespasses, we are only human.<\/p>\n
#31 \u2013 Plan ahead, but expect chaos when you get there.<\/p>\n
#32 \u2013 Ask for what you want. No one can read your mind.<\/p>\n
#33 \u2013 Think of a super hero and when the going gets tough embody the attributes of that character. My muse is Wonder Woman, in times of most turmoil I frequently ask WWWWD?<\/p>\n
#34 \u2013 Be yourself, everyone else is taken.<\/p>\n
#35 \u2013 Oprah said failure is a way of letting you know you are on the wrong path. I don\u2019t believe it. Live your dreams and learn to embrace failure.<\/p>\n
#36 \u2013 Make yourself happy \u2013 this should be lesson number one but I\u2019ve buried it down in here because it is the essence of every other lesson.<\/p>\n
#37 \u2013 You know the adage this too shall pass, remember that especially when you are low, when you feel like your friends have deserted you, when the mirror says you are not beautiful, or when your mental acuity lacks much to be desired according to you and the whole world is against you. Tomorrow you will feel like a god. And then, that too shall pass.<\/p>\n
#38 \u2013 Don\u2019t be embarrassed by your family \u2013 you did not choose them.<\/p>\n
#39 \u2013 This is one of my favorite quotes, it\u2019s by Louise Nevelson, \u201cYou must create your own world. I’m responsible for my world.\u201d<\/p>\n
#40 \u2013 Be direct. Speak your mind. Be TRANSPARENT.<\/p>\n
#41 \u2013 Be able to name your demons \u2013 denial is so overdone.<\/p>\n
#42 \u2013 Watching your body age is not for pussies \u2013 you have to be a warrior and commit to rebuilding, not just maintaining, the daily destruction.<\/p>\n
#43 \u2013 Try not to succumb to gimmicks, particularly as you age. If something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is, whether it be something to buy, something to make you look younger, something to make you richer, faster, better.<\/p>\n
#44 \u2013 Believe in mystery – something greater than yourself \u2013 it doesn\u2019t have to be through religion and faith in God, but it has to be so you understand that there are forces in the universe that are greater than your pea brain comprehension..<\/p>\n
#45 \u2013 Celebrate yourself.<\/p>\n
#46 \u2013 Love is my religion \u2013 proceed with love.<\/p>\n
#47 \u2013 To have a friend is to be a friend.<\/p>\n
#48 \u2013 Bringing an animal into your life will radically change who you are, but be prepared to take their life when the time comes because it always comes too soon.<\/p>\n
#49 \u2013 You are never too old for anything. Scratch \u201ctoo old\u201d from your vocabulary.<\/p>\n
#50 \u2013 Throw a party and make it last a lifetime!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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