Lessons learned in my twenties:
~Whenever possible, avoid melting plastic in the dishwasher. My first thought was - I think we'll have to move.
~"Clear care hydrogen peroxide" is not meant to be used as normal contact solution. Especially not on night one of vacation at an all inclusive resort, where you have to walk 3 miles blind with burning eyes to find a real bottle of contact solution (for which you gladly trade $90 and your right arm).
~ Do the hardest thing first. I've heard some philosophies that differ, but this works for me. Make the dreaded phone call first, do the worst project first, and get it off your shoulders.
~ If you never turn the TV on, you never have to turn it off.
~Say yes. Say yes to making the presentation, to trying the new group, to taking the opportunity. My mama's words ring in my head all the time "doing things you don't like to do develops character". (My 4 year old's response is "I don't think I want character"). Say yes to what scares you, because it will force you to grow.
~Say no. I'm just grasping at the edges of this lesson, but I'm starting to get it out of sheer necessity. If you never say no you will burn out and lose out on what should be the priority. "Even the good is the enemy of the best".
~Love your people. You are going to lose some of them, and it will crush you.
~ Give yourself some grace. I want my house to be "not lived in clean", but it just so happens that it is lived in by two small heathens. Someday I will have more than 60 seconds to tackle a project without being disrupted by said heathens. Someday I will miss those precious little arms that wrap around my legs and my neck and limit the cleaning I can accomplish. So for now I love on the babies, do my best for the house, and give myself a little grace for the baseboards.
~Be kind to everyone. We have no idea the battles they are fighting. Life is hard - let's not make it harder for each other.
~Be where your feet are. I can't say it better than Jim Elliot: wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation that you believe to be the will of God.
Cheers to thirty ;)
