Blogging ideas come to me at the oddest times. I am either driving in the car, riding on the train, or watching TV. This specific topic hit me like a ton of bricks at 4:30 in the morning about a month ago. I have been playing with the premise of this for awhile. While I know it may not resonate with everyone because of the religious undertones, I feel compelled to say what I feel regardless of the audience. After all, that is what blogging is all about.
I tried to think about life. What have I learned in life? What principles are important to me? What principles define who I am as a person? What have I learned along the way?
Here are 10 philosophies on life that I strive to live by every day.
1. ALL Glory Goes to HIM I am a Christian. I don’t do all the right things. I strive to do the right things. I have made huge mistakes. I have done things I regret. Any successes that I have I owe all to the creator. I am grateful to be alive. I am grateful to have a wonderful family. I am grateful for my health. I am grateful for my family and friends’ health. Everything we have, everything we have accomplished, anything that happens- we owe all to Jesus.
2. Whatever You Put Into It, You Will Get Out of It The more time and effort you put into ANYTHING the better the result. If you want to lose weight, you have to eat better. If you want to be faster, you need to run. If you want to be successful at your job, you have to do all that the job requires and MORE. If you want to be a good parent, then you have to spend quality time with your children. Don’t second guess this. Things don’t happen magically!
3. Embrace Children. They Are A Gift I always joke around about who I am. I am a father, husband, a true Texan, and…. by the way, I am also a recruiter. Being a recruiter is an easy job. Being a father is the most challenging and rewarding job I have ever held. I love having kids. Watching them grow up lets me re-live life all over again. It is so interesting to see my our kids and see physical characteristics of me and my wife. They truly learn EVERYTHING from us. I know Grandparents feel the same way. Kids are just amazing.
4. What Comes Around, Goes Around You may be successful today. You may have all of the money in the world. If you did something that wasn’t ethical to achieve success, eventually failure will follow. If you cheat on your spouse, eventually you will get caught. Do what is right. You will be a better person. You know your morals.
5. Someone will Always Have More. Stop Trying To Keep Up With The Jones’s It doesn’t matter what I achieve in life, someone, somewhere will always have more than we do. My parents taught me to be content. It isn’t an easy thing to do. I always strive to do my best. Someone will always be smarter, stronger, and will have more money. The minute you figure that out, you will be a happier person.
6. Everything Happens For a Reason This is a hard one for me. It is a hard one for anyone really. No one really knows why things happen. I have to believe it is all part of a bigger plan. Why do people get sick? Why do people die? Why do relationships end? Why are we here? Why are we dealt a bad hand? Truthfully, only one person can answer that question. Breathe. Enjoy life.
7. Treat Every Day Like It is Your Last The one thing that is certain in this life is that we WILL die. Embrace every moment. Treasure friendships that are meaningful. Spend time with the ones that mean the most to you. Do things that this wonderful world has to offer. Your judgement day will come one day. It may come sooner than you think.
8. Mamma Always Said There Would be Days Like This I wish every day was great! It is not. Just like the book I read to my daughter “Alexander and the Terrible No Good Very Bad Day”. Some days just stink. Some weeks stink. Some years stink. It is important to keep a positive attitude and pick yourself up and dust yourself off. Really, what else are you going to do?
9. Stop Trying to Control The Uncontrollable I am an anxious person. I am always trying to find out how I can control a situation. You know, I can’t. It is going to happen regardless. If I have sleepless nights over losing a job because of a bad economy, then I have wasted energy. If you are religious, you will trust that things will just have a way of working themselves out.
10. Whenever You Have a Chance, Pay It Forward– I have written about this before here, but I had to include this on the list. Everything comes full circle. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
