What is the most valuable lesson that you have learned in life?

1. 67

   PhoenixVposted 8 years ago

   What is the most valuable lesson that you have learned in life?

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2. 0

   Cissy1946posted 8 years ago

   Never say never--unless you plan on dying in the next minute or two. Places I swore I'd never go back to, people I swore I'm never have dealings with again, things I swore I'd never say or do, if you live long enough and aren't a recluse everything will eventually make it's way back around and you'll be eating a lot of never's.
   
   Example: My father and I had a bad relationship and after a particularly bad episode I swore to myself that I would never make contact with him again. That was a promise to myself that I was very comfortable with and saw no reason for it to ever change. Then my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. From the beginning the prognosis was not good but it wasn't until she had gone through chemo, surgery, more chemo, and was scheduled for radiation that I made the decision to approach our father so he would not read about her death in a newspaper obituary and so he could have a chance to talk to her and make whatever peace he needed to for both of them.
   It takes a couple of severe blows to realize just how little control you have on life so when you sift through all the lessons learned "never say never" is the most basic.

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3. 65

   WordCrafter09posted 8 years ago

   I'm not young, so it's hard to pick just one as "most valuable", but there's one thing that has been a thread throughout my whole life, beginning in early childhood (and this is one I think many/maybe most children have but may outgrow) and that's being far more mature and strong and capable than other people often would imagine that someone who looks like me might possibly be.  It's pretty common for adults to underestimate those traits in children, and it what can make it difficult is that it can be hard to sort out what is the immature behavior of a child or teen, how a kid might be very mature and sensible and strong in all kinds of ways and yet still not know the same number or type of facts about something that someone older would.
   
   Kids grow up, of course, and in adult life there are all kinds of things that others use as a way to judge how mature, strong, capable, etc. etc. someone else is.  They're sometimes external, sometimes subtle, but they're things that get the person with x number of them sometimes even an automatic assumption of being more capable, strong, mature, etc. than he really is - and that's without the person even having to do much of anything other than just have the benefits of those "markers" (for lack of a better word).
   
   Anyway, as a small-framed woman with a "small" woman's voice, and an appearance that doesn't lend itself well (without my turning myself completely ridiculous looking) to attempts to look older or smarter or stronger (or whatever); it's pretty much been a thing that I've always been well aware that people are not always what they appear to be on the outside.
   
   It didn't help that I went from being younger looking than I was for a long time, so somewhere along the way I just went from being seen as "less" because of that to often being seen as "less" by some because of age.
   
   Living with that has made me so aware of NEVER seeing others through a "looks lens", and because of that I never shut off the chances of learning so many other lessons about people and life.  I tend to err on the side of assuming strength, sense, maturity, intelligence (etc.) in others - which, oddly enough, is one of things I like most about myself.  (Of course, doing that hasn't gotten me a lot of being assumed to be anything but naive and/or "too /kind" (which then further feeds the "dumber-than-I-look" thing).  I'm not alone in this challenge, and it can be "a pain".  I  still prefer it to seeing others through a false lens myself.

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   1. 51

      Norine Williamsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      We are all "beautiful" in the sight of GOD! There's "no pain" in JESUS for we are the Children of GOD! 
      Amen!

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4. 69

   sassydeeposted 8 years ago

   that i cannot control anything or anybody and that i only have control over my own actions

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5. 55

   The0NatureBoyposted 8 years ago

   Every lesson I've learned are as valuable as any other, they each had to be learned with comprehension before I could learn the other lessons which brought me to the understanding I have.  In that light I would say my earliest memory was the greatest one in this life which was and evolved into the following. 
   
   At about the age of 6 months my mother left me in a rails-up baby-bed asleep and, I'm supposing, left to gather food from the garden.  I awoke before she returned and made a sound that turned into loud crying for someone to get me out for what appeared to me as a long time.  Suddenly a voice said "you may as well be content, no one is coming to get you" and I obeyed it.  Later my mother returned and praised me for not crying and because I couldn't talk I remember thinking something like "if she only knew." 
   
   That memory ultimately taught me to be content alone, that evolved into learning to do things alone and from that into reason why the different outcomes which has caused me to find what the buddha calls "The Middle Path" and the christ called "the Straight Way with the Narrow Gate."  That resulted into my being able to stop eating from "the tree of the KNOWLEDGE of good and evil" and the reasoning turned it into "The Tree of Life."

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   1. 51

      Norine Williamsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hey Elijah!  Glad to hear from you & know you're OK!  Great response!
      Blessings!

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   2. 55

      The0NatureBoyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I posted some time ago on one of your Hubs but you never responded so I didn't know where you were.  Thanks, You shocked me with that reply (LOL) but I really mean thanks.

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   3. 51

      Norine Williamsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      HP doesn't always notify me of comments!  Don't know if it's a glitch or ??? Anyway, grt hearing fm u & alone w/HIM is where HE wants ALL! Ill ck HUBS to see if I can find!  Take Care!

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6. 59

   RLWalker LMposted 8 years ago

   That they were right everytime they said "PAY ATTENTION". Thats all there is to life.

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7. 93

   Nathanvilleposted 8 years ago

   Tolerance; and consideration of others etc. e.g. too much prejudice in the world but a bit of kindness goes a long way.

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8. 48

   Ericdierkerposted 8 years ago

   To learn from children. Our thoughts become muddled with experience and answers. Their's is still fresh with questions.

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9. 63

   anemixflarieposted 8 years ago

   We are all connected.
   In life I have learned that my actions affect others around me, from human to nature.
   We are all energy, and like energy we connect with other sources and in turn this sources connect with others and so on, making the chain endless.
   Because we are connected to the earth, our paths intertwine with everyone else’s,
   energy flows between all

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10. 57

    Angelamartinoposted 8 years ago

    Trust your gut. Love yourself, love others. My key to happiness is all in the way you perceive life. Stay positive, stay humble. Don't settle.

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