I don’t know about you, but the world sure seems to be spinning around at exponential rates over the past few years. Whether it is out of control or not, is a matter of perspective.

However you see it, change is about the only constant that I have seen. In other words, the world continues to turn and the human race does what it does best. 

It keeps moving towards whatever the future may bring

Too many of us are doing birthday lessons learned lately. No, I am not going to do a 65 lessons post, it would be too freaking boring – TL:DR. Plus, it is rather late to do it for my birthday.

These are some thoughts about things that I have experienced over the past 65 years:

• Life is what you make it to be. Most of the time we don’t think about all the small choices that we make over the course of a day. But when I look back, those are the ones that make our lives what they are. From where I sit all those so-called big choices are the culmination of many small ones. Make those seemingly small daily choices wisely, they do affect our lives more than we realize.

• Without your health, the rest of your life can be damned miserable. Health is not downing some kind of pill or looking at the bottom of a bottle. I’ve tried, but they don’t work. Being healthy is hard work and staying healthy both physically and mentally is even harder. Sitting on your arse and wishing things were better ain’t gonna cut it. Do what you can, challenge yourself a little, and keep doing that consistently, you might be surprised at the results.

• Be you. Be weird. Be a nonconformist. We are all different, but all too often we allow ourselves to be lulled into playing a part that we don’t fit or want to be a part of. Or worse, one that we created for ourselves or that others created when we were younger, that no longer is who we are or want to be. Find the things you love to do, and join a community of people that you enjoy being around. They might not be the ones you think and often they will challenge your long-held beliefs. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box, you have built so carefully for yourself or let others construct. Have more than one interest. Skip, the friggen “yeah-but” — and start, there is no time like – now.

• Loving others is down a ways on my list because you must take care of yourself and be you, before you can truly love your family and friends. But it is a two-way street, you can’t be the one always giving. Let the emotional vampires or control freaks go, even if they are family. Choose to be around people who make your life better and maybe even challenge you to be better than you thought you could be.

• Your work is not who you are. How many times have we heard that before…well it’s true. Moreso today than at any other time in history. Work is what you do to earn money or ensure that you have health insurance. There is a vast difference, even when you are doing something you love, you are more than what you do to earn a living.

• Read more than social media posts, online articles, newspapers, or magazines. Read books, classics, and new stuff by authors who are experts in their fields. Read fiction, fantasy, biographies, and whatever else interests you. But read. However, read with open eyes and question why the author wrote what they did. What agenda are they promoting? Is what they have written based on facts, is it their opinion, interpretation, or an agenda they are promoting? Think critically about what you read, no matter what it is.

• Do less screen time. Less is more and everything in the section above on reading probably pertains doubly to what we watch on screens. Is what is being presented an opinion, a slanted interpretation, or part of an agenda they are promoting? For what reason do they want to manipulate you, think about it.

• Listen carefully to what others are saying AND doing. Do their words, lifestyle, and actions match what they are saying? If they are promoting something, is it what they do or use when out of the limelight, out of sight, or with their “other” peers? Is it merely an act or words used to get others to do what they want? Are their goals and lifestyle the same as yours or are they just attempting to get something from you – money, sex, a sense of power, or whatever? Think about it.

• Don’t get caught up in something that doesn’t feel right to you. Think about what you believe is important and what your values are. Don’t lose sight of them to impress others. Trust in yourself enough to do what you believe is right or at least go into what you are doing with both eyes open, and be prepared to face the consequences of your choices.

• Thinking of “if only” or “what might have been” serves no purpose. It is something we all do. It is also a fruitless exercise that holds us back from so many good things that are happening in our lives — now. Focus on now and the promise of what tomorrow might bring, living in past glories or submerging yourself in “Oh, woe is me” won’t let you live the life you could be living.

• Make the choices and changes that you believe need to be made in YOUR life. We all have things we can change. Remember that our time on this little blue marble is shorter than we want to believe. 

The biggest thing is that we need to do the best we can – now. Thinking about things is great, but it is what we DO after the thinking is done that matters.

Ask yourself what do you want to accomplish with the time granted to us. Yeah, that question of what will our legacy be.

One final thought – live your life well and be you.