When I Was Young

I was sharing a joke with a young assistant in Target, one of my very, very favourite places to shop, especially for kids jim-jams (pyjamas to you dear readers). And he asked me how I stayed so cheerful.

Did I have a secret I’d share with him?

I answered his questions as best I could, but driving home I thought about how I could have done a better job. I’m not usually tongue-tied and My Darling One will attest to the fact that I have plenty to say, most of the time. No, what he’d probably tell you is that I have plenty to say all of the time, but this conversation was unexpected and I was caught flat-footed. However, I digress.

So I began to ponder on what I wished someone had told me when I was a fresh-faced, eager, much younger me. So, whilst unpacking the umpteenth box from Thursday’s move I came up with ten things I would have liked someone to share with my younger self.

In no particular order:

Listen more, speak less. Too many of us are on transmit and too few on receive.
You don’t have to know everything, or have an answer to everything. It’s okay. In fact admitting you don’t know something might just be a huge relief.
Don’t play small in order to make someone else feel better about who they are. They’re just perfect and so are you.
If you want to experience success, think thoughts of success – no dwelling on failure, it can only bring more of the same.
Why assume the worst? Since it hasn’t happened yet, you might as well assume what you want and who knows…you might just get it.
Before you jump out of bed in the morning, take a moment and imagine how it feels to have a really, really great day. And then go ahead and do it.
Give up trying to fix other people. They don’t need it and you can’t do it. There’s only one Master of the Universe and it’s not you.
Question your beliefs. Where did they come from? Are they really yours, or did you inherit them or pick them up along the way from someone else. Do they serve you? If not, be willing to change them. They’re only beliefs, they’re not carved in stone, and the only power they have is what you give them.
Don’t argue for your limitations. It doesn’t matter what you’ve experienced before, or seen before, or been told before. Now is a new minute, a new day, a new opportunity. Think beyond what present or past circumstances dictate. Go on, give it a try, imagine the best.
Celebrate you. Recognize your successes in life, from the small to the great. Do it every day. Maybe you’re a great parent, or superb cook, or a wonderful friend, or have a compassionate heart, or maybe you’re a great concert pianist. Doesn’t matter, big or small, love them all.