1. All families are dysfunctional.
Read the stories of the families in the Bible and compare them to the stories you read in the newspaper or your news-feed online. The same issues – greed, dishonesty, jealousy- remain with us. ALL families are dysfunctional.
2. No matter how old you are, you are still someone’s “baby”.
I’m 52 years old, but when my 81 yr. Mother asks me, “Did you brush your hair?”, all those little-girl feelings are triggered.
3. Your biggest obstacle is often you. My father moved us around a lot when I was growing up. He always had hope that things would be better in the next town. He never figured out he was moving himself, too.
4. Attitude matters.
You cannot control every situation, but you can control your attitude. Sometimes it is the only thing you can control.
5. The happiest people I have known understood they could not save the world, but they could make an impact if they were careful and deliberate in their choices in how to share their time and talents.
6. The stress will kill you. Literally. The death certificate may say heart disease or stroke, but stress has a very real effect on us physically.
7. You can be part of the problem or part of the solution.
Roll up your sleeves. People appreciate you more if you offer a solution when a problem is identified.
8. As long as human beings are taking care of human beings, mistakes will be made. If it’s mechanical, it will break, and if it’s human, she or he will fail. The only people who never make a mistake are the ones who do nothing.
9. There are two kinds of people in the world. One walks into a room and says “Here I am”. The other walks into a room and says, “There you are”.
10. Adults don’t always like spending and time and money to plan ahead, update the will, save for a rainy day, having a Plan B and a Plan C. It’s called being a grown-up.