It might just be me — G-d, I hope not — but as I get older, I feel like I know less and less about life.
When I was in my twenties, I really thought I had all the answers.
I thought I knew what was coming next, what tomorrow would look like.
You know… the big picture, the blueprint of each week, each month, each year carefully constructed in my mind to look and feel a certain way.
I had consciously created the life I wanted and was living it — or so I thought.
I had a plan. Right?
Wrong.
You see, plans don’t work without back-up plans. But when we are all so busy living our lives day to day—we don’t think something is going to come along to disrupt our carefully outlined ecosystem.
But it always does. And it’s always by surprise.
This past summer I have witnessed and heard so many life-changing events. Traumas that were not foreseen, deaths that were not predicted, accidents that were not planned, etc.
And while none of these occurrences happened directly to me, they’ve affected and shown me how very fragile life is and how, in the blink of an eye, everything you know to exist and love can change in a moment’s notice, with no regard for what “our bigger plan” is.
We don’t get married with the intention of getting divorced, yet the divorce rate is over 52% and growing.
We don’t get into long-term relationships to break up, yet a report cited that 70% of straight, unmarried couples break up within the first year.
We don’t think we will lose our parents, our children, our siblings, our friends to sickness or death, yet it happens daily, out of the blue, for no particular reason.
We don’t think we will lose a job, a friendship, a home, a pet, but we do — every day.
There is no rhyme or reason to life.
I think one of the greatest disappointments we have in life is that the things you might hold in high regard — other people simply don’t care about.
We desperately want people to share our values, but in reality, they just don’t.
I find in life, with all that is happening around us, there are just some really simple rules to live by that allow us to control our own little world despite what’s happening around us.
- If you hurt someone, say you’re sorry. You don’t get to agree or disagree. Hurt is an emotion, and apologizing helps it to heal.
- Be happy for other people’s happiness. It costs nothing and brings good karma.
- Don’t step over someone to get to someone else. There’s a proper protocol to life. Don’t be sneaky. It will bite you in the end.
- There is no bigger, better deal. Usually when you trade, it comes with a whole other bag of crazy. Practice just being grateful for what you have.
- Nobody’s life is perfect — so don’t compare. When times get tough, relax. It passes, eventually.
- Look at bad decisions as learning experiences instead of regret.
- Be happy being you. Love your flaws and quirks. We are all weird. Love your brand of crazy.
- Be true to people behind their backs. They always find out. If you don’t like them, don’t have them in you life. Be big enough to own it.
- Don’t burn bridges. You never know when that route will be your only way through a storm.
- Own your mistakes. We all make them.
Life is short, and the decisions we make today affect tomorrow.
So while we are all trying to figure out life, one thing I know for sure is…
None of us have the answers and we’re all doing the best we can. So live and love the way you want to be known for.
In the end- nothing else matters.
Until Next Week-
Love,
Karin
