40 life lessons on growing up

This is a photograph of Mareike, that I took in the fall of 2008.

♥ Do things once. Do things right.

♥ No matter what you want, in the end you will always get what you deserve. You will always get what you are in vibrational harmony with.

♥ When you make the other person your goal (to share a life experience with them and love them for whom they are), all relationships become possible and all levels of relationships become possible.

♥ When someone insults you – they may think that they are defining you and what kind of person you are, but in truth, all they are doing is defining themselves, what kind of person they are, and how low they are capable of going.

♥ In every situation, you always have a choice.

♥ Love and time is the only thing that can dissipate anger.

♥ Spend your time, energy and money on things that make your life better, not just make you feel good.

♥ The two motivating emotions are fear and love.

♥ To have a rich life, only bring things, people, and circumstances into your life that adds value.

♥ Don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.

♥ A bad mood is not an excuse to be rude.

♥ The person who raises their voice or throws a fist in an argument, is the first to admit that he or she is losing the argument.

♥ Every time you put something off, you instantly make it scarier.

♥ Swearing brings more attention on your words rather than what you are actually trying to say.

♥ It is worth re-trying foods that you may not have liked at first.

♥ Breaking promises to yourself is the non-stop ticket to self hatred.

♥ Yelling will always make things worse.

♥ When you lie to somebody else, you lie to yourself. And when you lie to yourself, no matter how small that lie is – it will hurt you in some way.

♥ Those who complain the most, do the least.

♥ Self-inquiry, self-reflection and self-examination are vital tools for your sense of happiness.

♥ What is more important than a happy mind is a quiet mind.

♥ If you are not happy when you are single, you will not be happy in a relationship.

♥ Everybody needs a friend. If you need more good friends in your life, focus more on being a good friend to other people, and it will come.

♥ When you decide to “punish” your partner in a relationship, you are more interested in venting your anger and resentment, rather than correcting any behaviour.

♥ Words are powerful tools that can destroy a person completely.

♥ To reach a new level in any area of your life will require a little bit more effort and awareness than what you have been producing. Just a little – but it is significant.

♥ Everyone likes it when someone gets to the point.

♥ Circumstances tend to reveal a person’s character, rather than determining them.

♥ Always save some of the money you make.

♥ Nothing very good or very bad ever lasts very long.

♥ The news does not necessarily show you what is going on in the world – it simply shows you what’s on the news. The world is far too big to be captured like that. We are only shown what someone else decides is important.

♥ When somebody aggravates or irritates you, they are likely to be reflecting a certain quality you have not yet accepted within yourself.

♥ Don’t make conclusions when you’re sad, promises when you’re happy, or truths when you are angry.

♥ One of the most important relationships to cultivate is your connection with your intuition. You have all the answers you need. But sometimes if you’re asking a question and simply not getting an answer or a right answer, perhaps you are not asking the right questions. Try asking a different question.

♥ Spend time with people who share similar values as you.

♥ There is a difference between people who demand power, and those that command power.

♥ The sexiest thing is to being natural and real. The easiest way to attract somebody, is to be natural.

♥ “The moment you think you are inferior to someone or superior to someone – it is just your ego.” Eckhart Tolle

♥ Life is perfect. Everything that has ever happened, good or bad, has lead you to where you are today. And this is exactly where you need to be.

♥ The only way to have a successful business is to be good at what you do. If you are good at what you do, people will look for you.

These are just some of my life lessons learned in my 21 years, and I am sure there are many more to come.  When I was younger, I used to be sad. And then I used to focus so much on “being happy”  – that sometimes I was, and sometimes I wasn’t. And now I realize that my life is reflecting a different set of values. My life now, is not necessarily about being happy. Life is about growing up. And happiness is the byproduct.

And I’m okay with that.