"Ma'am, I know this is a weird question, but if you had to give one piece of advice to a person coming up in the world, what would it be?"
Behind her thick-rimmed glasses, I could see her eyeing me, skeptical of the girl who just asked what had obviously not been asked to her before. When she realized that I was completely serious about my search for her answer, she smiled and politely said, "Know the life you want to live, and take the steps to reach that life." She leaned in close and added, "So make sure you get an education."
Luckily for me, life is a pretty good professor.
1. You need two showers a day: one to clean your body, and the other to clean your soul.
I'm not talking about two legitimate "kill the whales" showers. I'm talking about taking the time to sit back and think about what you're doing right in this life, and what you're doing wrong, then taking steps to correct those mistakes. (Romans 8:27)
2. When you find yourself dragging your feet through a routine, do something different.
I take a bike ride every morning. Same distance, same time, same playlist, same route, same undeniable feeling that one more mile on that silly metal contraption will most definitely result in an unfortunate death. One morning, however, it was raining. I am not sure what compelled me to do it, but I ditched the bike and took a walk in the rain, and it was just the change I needed. It seems that I had forgotten how beautiful the scenery is when you take the time to slow down and appreciate it. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
3. Never let an argument become more important than another person.
When we let the desire to "win" an argument become the chief concern, we forget the well being of others. I'm not saying that you always have to just surrender the victory of a disagreement, but sometimes it's the right thing to do. (Proverbs 15:4)
4. Home is more than a place.
I'm about to sound a little bit crazy, Reader, but I promise the only disease I have is a chronic case of homesickness. I've been seeing people from my college town in my hometown. I know it's not really them, but I always have to take a second glance just to make sure. Whether it's the guy who I always saw at the gym, or last semester's lab partner, or random people from my church up there, they're always in the back of my mind. I miss them. I miss home. (Proverbs 27:8-9)
5. Remember the good.
There will be friends who walk in and out of your life. It's your choice whether to remember the silly inside jokes you shared, or to dwell on the fact that things aren't the way they used to be, and I can say from experience that life is much more enjoyable when you can look back on memories and laugh rather than cry. (Philippians 4:8)
I take a bike ride every morning. Same distance, same time, same playlist, same route, same undeniable feeling that one more mile on that silly metal contraption will most definitely result in an unfortunate death. One morning, however, it was raining. I am not sure what compelled me to do it, but I ditched the bike and took a walk in the rain, and it was just the change I needed. It seems that I had forgotten how beautiful the scenery is when you take the time to slow down and appreciate it. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
3. Never let an argument become more important than another person.
When we let the desire to "win" an argument become the chief concern, we forget the well being of others. I'm not saying that you always have to just surrender the victory of a disagreement, but sometimes it's the right thing to do. (Proverbs 15:4)
4. Home is more than a place.
I'm about to sound a little bit crazy, Reader, but I promise the only disease I have is a chronic case of homesickness. I've been seeing people from my college town in my hometown. I know it's not really them, but I always have to take a second glance just to make sure. Whether it's the guy who I always saw at the gym, or last semester's lab partner, or random people from my church up there, they're always in the back of my mind. I miss them. I miss home. (Proverbs 27:8-9)
5. Remember the good.
There will be friends who walk in and out of your life. It's your choice whether to remember the silly inside jokes you shared, or to dwell on the fact that things aren't the way they used to be, and I can say from experience that life is much more enjoyable when you can look back on memories and laugh rather than cry. (Philippians 4:8)
No comments:
Post a Comment