… What I’d really like to do today is share some of the things I think I’ve learned in life. You could call them “pearls of wisdom.” …
- There’s always something to be thankful for if you take time to look for it.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that especially in these uncertain times, people are always looking for the bad and never the good. Sometimes, it’s easy to do that, especially when dealing with very scary issues … But that’s when it becomes even more important to look for the good. Just the other day I heard someone complaining how much everything cost and they couldn’t afford a thing. Their friend answered, “Living on earth is expensive but it does include a free trip around the sun every single day.”
There are very few situations – no matter how sad or tragic – where most of us can’t find something to be grateful for – for friends and family; for our country; for our faith. It’s such a waste of energy to dwell on the bad and not the good.
- This is a wonderful time for each of us to remind ourselves what’s really important in life, and what’s not.
One of many notes I received after Sept. 11th came from a good friend who was away from home that day. When he got home, he was struck by how trivial the headlines had been in the previous day’s paper, still waiting for him on his kitchen counter. “I looked over all the things that were so important Monday and reflected how this act of terror changed our world in just a few seconds.” Now, all he wanted to do was hug his wife and children and grandchildren. …
- Learn not to waste time.
That doesn’t mean you have to work hard and play hard every single minute. Enjoying a good book, taking a nap on the back porch, watching it rain … that is time well spent. Staying angry at a friend, worrying about things you can’t change, watching reruns on television – those are precious moments lost