You know how you
can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it
finally gets through to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that
category – life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been
reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven’t fully grasped.
1. THE AVERAGE
HUMAN LIFE IS RELATIVELY SHORT
We know deep down
that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet
we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know.
LIVE your life
TODAY! Don’t ignore death, but don’t be afraid of it either. Be afraid of a
life you never lived because you were too afraid to take action. Death is not
the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while
you’re still alive. Be bold. Be courageous. Be scared to death, and then take
the next step anyway.
2. YOU LIVE THE
LIFE YOU CREATE FOR YOURSELF
Your life is
yours alone. Others can try to persuade you, but they can’t decide for you.
They can walk with you, but not in your shoes. So make sure the path you decide
to walk aligns with your own intuition and desires, and don’t be scared to
switch paths or pave a new one when it makes sense.
Even if you have
no idea where you’re going to land, be brave enough to step up to the edge of
the unknown, and listen to your heart.
3. BEING BUSY
DOES NOT MEAN BEING PRODUCTIVE
Though being busy
can make us feel more alive than anything else for a moment, the sensation is
not sustainable long term. We will inevitably, whether tomorrow or on our
deathbed, come to wish that we spent less time in the buzz of busyness and more
time actually living a purposeful life.
4. SOME KIND OF
FAILURE ALWAYS OCCURS BEFORE SUCCESS
Most mistakes are
unavoidable. Learn to forgive yourself. It’s not a problem to make them. It’s
only a problem if you never learn from them.
Just because it’s
not happening now, doesn’t mean it never will. Sometimes things have to go very
wrong before they can be right.
5. THINKING AND
DOING ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS
Success never
comes to look for you while you wait around thinking about it. Ask yourself
what’s really important and then have the courage to build your life around
your answer.
And remember, if
you wait until you feel 100% ready to begin, you’ll likely be waiting the rest
of your life.
6. YOU DON’T HAVE
TO WAIT FOR AN APOLOGY TO FORGIVE
Life gets much
easier when you learn to accept all the apologies you never got. The key is to
be thankful for every experience – positive or negative. Forgiveness is a
promise – one you want to keep. When you forgive someone you are making a
promise not to hold the unchangeable past against your present self.
7. SOME PEOPLE
ARE SIMPLY THE WRONG MATCH FOR YOU
You will only
ever be as great as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough
to let go of those who keep bringing you down. There are so many “right people”
for you, who energize you and inspire you to be your best self. It makes no
sense to force it with people who are the wrong match for you.
8. IT’S NOT OTHER
PEOPLE’S JOB TO LOVE YOU; IT’S YOURS
It’s important to
be nice to others, but it’s even more important to be nice to yourself. You
really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. Yes, let
someone love you and let that someone be YOU.
9. WHAT YOU OWN
IS NOT WHO YOU ARE
You have to
create your own culture. Find the strength to fill your time with meaningful
experiences. The space and time you are occupying at this very moment is LIFE. Too
often we’re told that we’re not important, we’re just peripheral to what is. And
it’s sad, because someday you’ll wake up and realize you’ve been tricked.
10. EVERYTHING
CHANGES, EVERY SECOND
Embrace change
and realize it happens for a reason. It won’t always be obvious at first, but
in the end it will be worth it.
Life doesn’t stop
for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of
seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to
someone nearby right now.
However good or
bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on.
So when life is good, enjoy it. Don’t go looking for something better every
second. Happiness never comes to those who don’t appreciate what they have
while they have it.
Mahesh Bhatt
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