45 Lessons Life Taught Me

45 Lessons Life Taught Me

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and
parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey
is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never

blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up
to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an

answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't
save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will
this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone/everything .

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or
didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd
grab
ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

--
Work like you don't need the money.
Love like you've never been hurt.
Dance like no one is watching.

You may be living in Canada

Forget Rednecks, Here is what Jeff Foxworthy has to say about Canucks.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from
September through May,
You may be living in Canada .


If someone in a Home Depot store
Offers you assistance and they don't work there,
You may be living in Canada .

If you've worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You may be living in Canada .

If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation
With someone who dialed a wrong number,
You may be living in Canada .

If 'Vacation' means going anywhere
South of Detroit for the weekend,
You may be living in Canada .

If you measure distance in hours,
You may be living in Canada .

If you know several people
Who have hit a deer more than once,
You may be living in Canada .

If you have switched from 'heat' to 'A/C'
In the same day and back again,
You may be living in Canada .

If you can drive 90 km/hr through 2 feet of snow
During a raging blizzard without flinching,
You may be living in Canada .

If you install security lights on your house and garage,
But leave both unlocked,
You may be living in Canada .

If you carry jumper cables in your car
And your wife knows how to use them,
You may be living in Canada .

If you design your kid's Halloween costume
To fit over a snowsuit,
You may be living in Canada .

If the speed limit on the highway is 80 km --
You're going 90 and everybody is passing you,
You may be living in Canada .

If driving is better in the winter
Because the potholes are filled with snow,
You may be living in Canada .

If you know all 4 seasons:
Almost winter, winter, still winter,
And road construction,
You may be living in Canada .

If you have more miles
On your snow blower than your car,
You may be living in Canada .


If you find 2 degrees 'a little chilly',
You may be living in Canada .


If you actually understand these jokes,
And forward them to all
Your Canadian friends & others,
You definitely live in Canada .

Give support meant for the poor to the poor

I just had a thought today when I learned that RGI housing often has a waiting list of 8 years or longer what the leader of the NDP party, Jack Layton (and he's not the only higher income person that was taking advange of the the RGI housing system) was doing with his high income living in RGI housing? Was he "slumming it" to prove that he is willing to live among the commoners? Did he ever think that he may have taken the type of housing that would have made the difference between a family eating and not eating? If someone's housing takes up 90% of their income they may often be faced with eating or paying the rent but if it was 30% of their income then they could eat. Wasn't it nice of this guy to put some poor family in this position! Eat or pay the rent. Thanks fearless leader! He may say he's for the people but he wasn't for the one family that may have been faced with that choice. There is a cap on how much people pay in rent for this housing with no time limit on how long they live there under that rent.
Further thought.
The Social welfare system. A person is on welfare and makes a miniscule amount of money and if they get a part time job but are still underemployed they can stay on welfare for 6 months with 50% of the income from their underemployed income being taken away from them. After 6 months they are cut off.
My question is why is that someone can take advantage of the low cost housing indefinitely instead of say after 6 months of paying the maximum rent allowed for the rental unit they are in they should either move out and let someone that needs the unit because they are living in poverty move in or start paying 30% of their income even if they are making a million dollars a year... This money could build more units or improve existing units or it would force these people that don't need the RGI housing to move out. The system as it currently is only favours the rich. There should be changes made so that everyone can have better living conditions or at least so that rich people can't abuse the system. For poor people - the system is always policing every penny they make so that they can't take advantage of the system. It's just a thought about fairness and justice for all.

Don't get me wrong. Of all the leaders in the government I think Jack Layton is one of the best candidates for people living in poverty or on the fringe of poverty. I just feel that more can be done to give poor people a chance to break out of the chains of poverty and one of the ways is to make it easier for them to get access to things like RGI housing, affordable education and so many other things that are so hard to access now because they are in such limited supply and maybe there are ways to make it even a little easier to get access to these important elements to get out of the ghettos of poverty.

Ethics and Justice

Some days when I look at the world and see the way people harm each other and everyone has so many double standards and harms everyone else I am amazed that they don't recognize just how wrong their behaviour is. The irony of it is it's not usually the people that you would expect to be that way. For example, if you see a person living in abject poverty stealing you can kind of understand it. It's not right but at least you can understand it easier than someone that's very rich doing the same thing. Cruelty, you'd asume people that aren't educated to know harming others and animals to understand how wrong it is but the worst cruelties often come from those who should know better. Ethics and standing up for what you believe in isn't a case of what your socioeconomic background is, it's who you are inside. If you care and are sensitive to others and have a general sense of fairness that will be there whether you are a person living on the street or someone that is running a country and I don't think that enough people in this world stand behind their beliefs. It seems to be a dog eat dog world out there and it really makes me sad. It makes me think that I want to be the best person that I can be and if no one else follows that then though I should try not to judge I should at least attempt to keep on my own path.