49 Life Lessons from a 49-Year-Old

Some of you might be aware I write a daily line called Today’s Line to Live By. It started four years ago when I began these daily dispatches for my Facebook friends. This fun hobby has now made its way to all my social media pages.

Annually, on my birthday, I post the number of lines that coincides with my year. Of course, I’ve now reached an age which tests the appropriate length of a blog post. Even so, I love this part as it’s always been my goal to write articles and books that make you think and make you the best you. Thoughts that, if you considered them, could help you feel as though you drew your life not on an Etch-e-sketch, but painted it on a canvas…a landscape that looks like your very own Monet.

Here’s hoping these 49 thoughts help you. It took me a while to learn them. I hope you’re a quicker study than I was…

On reality…

49. Your perceptions are more like portraits than actual photos. In every case, you are the artist and what you see has more to do with the brush in your hand than what is actually in front of you.

On love...

48. It is impossible for love, of any kind or for anything, to die of natural causes. Just impossible.
47. Marry for true love. Not to procreate. Lest you’ll eventually find yourself a part-time parent. Or worse. A part-time spouse.
46. Love as many things as you possibly can. It’s better if those things are people.

 On comparison…

45. Comparisons are a complete waste of time, but they are especially damaging when you're comparing your behind the scenes footage to someone else's public highlight reel.

On sleepwalking… 

44. This one is for those sleepwalking through life. It came to me while I was at the cemetery visiting someone. I realized that although I was likely surrounded by people who loved many, I was also looking at a few miles worth of unpainted canvases, unwritten books, un-started businesses, and worst of all—many unfulfilled dreams. Just remember that the next time you utter the word “someday.”

On when trust is a four-letter word… 

43. Trust. It's one of my favorite words. It's thrown around loosely and often misunderstood. You only need to trust one person to be happy—yourself. If you trust someone other than yourself, that's technically called "hope."

On definitions and foul language…

42. Self-Worth (sêlf w?rth) n. A personal value you display to others measured in emotional units which are inversely proportional to the amount of sh!t you’ll accept from them. 

On when to be admitted to an asylum…

41. My Law of Inverse Insanity. Pessimists believe their future is guaranteed—to be worse. Optimists believe their future is guaranteed—to be better. The equator of these emotional hemispheres is not "hope"...it's "belief"...that neither can ever be true.

On knowing your prepositions… 

40. Life happens for you, not to you. Have a nice day.

On cutting your vacation short…

39. Vacations are fun, but the most important trip you can ever take is the one to meet someone halfway.

On being a, uh, magnet…

38. You attract people based on what qualities you show them. They stay around based on what qualities you truly possess. Most things in life work this way.

On being in sync…

37. Think. Say. Do. Your life will never be more on track than when those three things are all the same.

On how everyone can be an engineer…

36. I hope you realize that at any moment in life, you are allowed to change the factory settings they gave you at birth. To think you need to live society's defaulted way, is a waste of your uniqueness.

On criminals…

35. Of all things that can cause you strain, social comparison is happiness' biggest thief.

On good news for quitters…

34. This might sound odd, but I assure you it's not. Your success in life will not be determined nearly as much by what you finished, as it will by what you started.

 On how clumsy I am… 

33. Yesterday I figuratively tripped over something I considered "in" my way, but fortunately it only took me a few seconds to realize that it was the way. Life is like that...The. Entire. Way.

On things to hang on to… 

32. Don't save face only to lose your soul. The. End.

On listening and speaking…

31. Listen to your body. It’s smarter than you are.
30. Listen twice as much as you speak. You'll sound smarter when something comes out of your mouth. And you'll be wrong half as often.
29. If you're silent regarding something that matters to you, it's your problem. No one else's.

On missing persons…

28. The minute you take something for granted, she’s gone.

On when not to blink…

27. There will be a moment in your life that is the absolute pinnacle—the moment that will change your life forever. You might not realize it for a day, year, or three decades, but it was there. Trust me. 

On Mary Ann or Ginger…

26. Smart is sexier than, uh, sexy.

On when it’s okay to finish last…

25. There is nothing like the first kiss. Except the person who gives you your last first kiss.

On being tardy…

24. It’s never too late to be the person you are capable of being. Or too early.

On when ignoring someone is okay…

23. Anyone who tells you something is impossible is no longer worthy of being your friend.

On playing favorites…

22. It’s better to have favorite people than favorite things.

On being a welterweight…

21. The greatest lesson you can ever learn in life is how to take a punch. The longer you live the more punches you’ll take from people you don’t care about and who don’t care about you.

On learning your clichés…

20. Here’s a line you need to get down cold, “I respectfully don’t care what you think I can accomplish.” Use it often. I promise you’ll be right more often than the other guy.

On sticky things…

19. Don't change for anyone but yourself. If you change for someone else, it won't stick. At least it won't stick without resentment.

On whether your butt looks fat in those jeans…

18. Your genes account for far less of your health than you think. It's amazing what exercise, eating right, and a good night's sleep will do to all the bad genes you think you inherited.

On free giveaways…

17. Give something away every day. Good vibes is the best place to start. A big smile works too.

On keeping up with the Jones-es…

16. Materialism and fast food might be the American way, but debt stinks. You’re not better off borrowing money you don’t have to buy things you can’t afford to impress people you don’t know. 

On that was over quickly… 

15. Whatever your goals are in life, I assure you you’re aiming too low. If you’d like to argue with me about this, I will prove you wrong in an embarrassingly short amount of time.

On Newton's First Law of Motion...

14. It's much easier to direct a moving object than a stationary one.

On what to do with your body parts…

13. When you shake someone’s hand, do it firmly. In fact, make sure you stand whenever you do. If you don't, you're saying, "Your hand isn't worth shaking."
12. Your body language will say more about you than any words that come out of your mouth.

On your undergarments…

11. Wear clean underwear. In fact, write a book while in your underwear. If I did it, you can too.

On lending versus borrowing…

10. If someone borrows something from you, make sure you can live without it. F-o-r-e-v-e-r.

On being brief…

9. In business, cut your long story short. In friendship, keep your long story long. In love, make your long story longer.

On board games…

8. Don’t be a chess piece. Be a chess player.

On being an entrepreneur…

7. Working hard for something you don’t really care about is called stress. Working hard for something you love is called passion.

On life and death…

6. Instant results will never be your best results. It’s a law—because any value that arrives in an instant is usually gone in an instant. And, real value that takes time to create usually outlives its creator.
5. Life is a blessing and you should treat it that way, especially considering someone somewhere died between the time you started reading this sentence and the time you finished it.

On happiness…

4. No one who ever says or thinks "I just want to be happy" will ever actually become happy. Happiness is not something you get. It's something you choose.

On my muscles are bigger than your muscles…

3. No external achievement will ever be strong enough to outmuscle inner peace. Not even those achievements you were just contemplating. N-e-v-e-r.

On making it look easy…

2. People you think are amazing struggle just like you do. In fact, they struggle more often with bigger issues. That's how they became amazing. 

On how high I can count… 

1. I'll never count the minutes, but I'll always count the moments.

This post first appeared on the milewalk blog | tips for work and life on August 27, 2015.

If you enjoyed this article, you can find other wonderful tips and tricks related to life and work via my blog and the usual social spots at LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.