30 Things I Know For Sure
Dear Friends,
It is a cold snowy day here in Midwest USA, and it happens to be my 30th birthday! I've spent the morning reflecting, journaling, and reminding myself of important lessons I've learned over the past 30 years (wow, still sounds weird to say!). As I've been approaching my 30th birthday, I've been having some feelings that I'm sure many of you have too-- asking myself poignant question like: Am I where I want to be? Am I ever going to have what I want? Am I a failure or a success? What does the future hold? And etc etc. Rather than delve into a pit of unanswerable questions, which often leads to fear and strife, I decided to sit down and make a list of things I know for sure.
At first I wasn't sure if I could come up with even 5 things I knew for sure, but once I started, my list went on and on. The more I added to it, the better I felt! So here, I want to share with you 30 Things I Know For Sure, in hopes that perhaps one or more of them can help you. I know that I will be coming back and reading this list several times over the next year. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of what we KNOW for certain. Without further ado, I give you my list:
1- I am the only person responsible for my life. That includes my happiness, my mood, my attitude, and my actions.
2- Fear and doubts are a part of life- We just have to overcome them. It’s all perception, which we can shift.
3-You become like the people you surround yourself with- choose wisely.
4- There is always someone who wants and needs what you have.
5- Negativity is contagious, but so is positivity. Which will you spread?
6- When you hold on to your history, you do it at the expense of your destiny. Let the past go. Forgive those that hurt you. Forgive life for when it wasn’t fair. Forgive yourself when you made mistakes. Forgiveness is letting go of the idea that the past could be any different than it was. What happened, happened. Learn from it, and move forward.
7- When you know better, you do better. In the past you did the best you knew how to do. Now that you know better, you can do better!
8- Forgiveness does not excuse bad behavior. It liberates you and allows you to take your power back.
9- Whatever you put out there will come looking for you. Release positive energy and good vibes into the universe and guess what’s going to come back seeking you?
10- Gratefulness is a choice—a good one! And a daily one.
11- Life is daily— Making good choices and choosing your mood, thoughts, actions is a moment to moment activity. You can choose to be depressed and the more you feed into it, the deeper you will get. A moment of depression can turn into a day of depression, which can turn into a few days, a week, a month, etc etc etc. But you can change your thoughts at any moment and choose gratefulness and happiness. The power lies in your hands.
12- You are not alone! Somewhere in the world, someone is feeling the exact same way that you are at any given moment. Also, you are not the first person to ever experience the feelings you are experiencing. Over the history of humankind, someone (many people) have felt the exact same way you do right now.
13- You are wonderfully and fearfully made. Dwell on that, you special thing!
14- It does not matter where you come from. What matters is now—this moment—accept it, forgive the past, take responsibility, and move forward.
15- Putting yourself first is not selfish—it’s self-full. You can’t give what you don’t have so fill your cup up first. What’s in the cup is for you, what flows out of the cup is for everyone else.
16- You are the representative of God in your life……….so act like it! Treat yourself accordingly.
17- Every relationship and every situation is here to teach you something about yourself. What lesson are you learning?
18- Love doesn’t hurt. Love doesn’t tie you down. Love liberates. Love feels good, not torturous or tedious.
19- The only person you ever have control over is yourself. You can change the way you see the situation or you can remove yourself from it, but you cannot control other people.
20- When you look for blessings in your life, you will be blessed! Conversely, if you focus on what you don’t have, you will never have enough!
21- You attract what you are, not what you want. Everything that comes to your life is showing up because you attracted it. Don’t look at the negative situation/person/etc—look at yourself and the energy/beliefs you are putting out there to attract those things.
22- You don’t have to be brutal about anything. When you love & respect yourself enough, you simply will not allow negative people/energy to have space in your life. You can let them go in a firm but respectful way.
23- You can be pitiful or powerful but you can’t be both.
24- Spending your life trying to be what you are not is a waste of time. Figure out who you are and be that to the best of your ability.
25- When you don’t show up as your authentic self, people will fall in love with who you’re not.
26- When people do things, it is a reflection of what is going on inside them. When people hate or love with so much energy, it is something in themselves they are hating or loving. It’s not always about you. In fact, most of the time it’s not.
27- The truth will set you free! Tell the truth (in love) sooner!
28- Multi-tasking is not a good thing. It’s more important to prioritize, know the outcome you want, then choose to be fully present in each moment. You are in control of your schedule and have the power to say no to anything you want.
29- We are all more alike than we are unalike. I am not my brother’s keeper, I am my brother.
30- Peace is a choice. And when you’re at peace with yourself, that is a position of power.
I don't know about you, but I'm feeling great! Sending you all positive energy and lots of love! <3
Andrew
