Friday Five: Lessons Learned
This will be my last blog post of 2011. I blogged yesterday at YA Outside the Lines about goals for the new year. Today I'm reflecting on what I learned in this one.
1. It's best not to get attached to specific outcomes. Getting attached is the source of most of our suffering. This one is extremely hard to follow through on. But when I can remember to do it, I'm calmer, life is less stressful.
2. It's important to feel grateful for the mundane. Not because there's some Higher Power looking down and judging us for not doing it, but because it actually makes life more enjoyable. It slows me down, makes me present for this moment.
3. This moment matters. We should slow down and experience it. Not every moment is fun or easy, but every one of them matters. We rush. SO MUCH. We are SO BUSY. ALL THE TIME. How many moments of our lives are we actually experiencing vs. how many are we rushing through? I know there's a lot to do. I know it all has to get done. Breathe.
4. Things have a way of working out. Seriously. They do. You can stop panicking. I give you permission. They don't always work out the way we want them to or at the speed we desire. But it's okay. Things actually do have a way of working out for the best.
5. Embrace who you are. Do we ever stop struggling with this one? I'm trying! Trying to stop comparing myself to others, to stop judging myself according to other's lives, to stop attempting to be more like anyone other than me. I'm trying to accept and embrace that who I am in the world is different than who anyone else is. It's supposed to be that way. And dampening that serves no one.
So that's what I've learned this year. Will I have to learn it all over again next year? Maybe. But I think/hope I'm making progress. May all our lessons be gentle in the year ahead!
xo
Posted by Cheryl at 12/16/2011 9:24 AM 
Categories: friday five; life; writing; dreaming, life; inspiration; writing
Tags: friday five life writing dreaming inspiration life
Categories: friday five; life; writing; dreaming, life; inspiration; writing
Tags: friday five life writing dreaming inspiration life
It's so great to take stock at the end of the year. I especially like #4--it is so true that things work out whether we like the outcome or not--they do work out for the best. That's one of the things that makes hindsight 20/20.
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So true! I wish waiting for the moment when hindsight makes everything clear didn't take so much patience!
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