Many of life’s lessons are experienced and learnt in the course of our life journey in this mortal world. Unfortunately, we tend to forget some of the most obvious truths out there and sometimes, we just need a little reminder of what they are.
One article has made its way around the web with the 10 Most Obvious Truth several times over, and after having come across it several times, I thought I would share the ones I find to be the most significant to me on my blog , with added thoughts on my own:
#2: You will only ever live the life you create for yourself.
Your life is yours alone. Others can try to persuade you, but they can’t decide for you. They can walk with you, but not in your shoes. So make sure the path you decide to walk aligns with your own intuition and desires, and don’t be scared to switch paths or pave a new one when it makes sense.
Yes, life is about choices – you make your own bed and you sleep in it. While you live the life you create for yourself, I would also caution that it would be too easy to become delusional if the only life you create resides in your own head. Especially so if it is at the expense of other people just because you feel you are entitled and that it is your birth right. Moral of the story: Be realistic, and be conscious of how your decisions could impact other people
#3 Being busy does NOT mean being productive.
Busyness isn’t a virtue, nor is it something to respect. Though we all have seasons of crazy schedules, very few of us have a legitimate need to be busy ALL the time. We simply don’t know how to live within our means, prioritize properly, and say no when we should.
Being busy rarely equates to productivity these days. Just take a quick look around. Busy people outnumber productive people by a wide margin. Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time. They’re heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc. They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep. Yet, emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets, and their day planners are jammed to the brim with obligations. Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance. But it’s all an illusion. They’re like hamsters running on a wheel.
Though being busy can make us feel more alive than anything else for a moment, the sensation is not sustainable long term. We will inevitably, whether tomorrow or on our deathbed, come to wish that we spent less time in the buzz of busyness and more time actually living a purposeful life.
This is my favourite. I could not agree with this more! I have always been a big advocate of making time for people and things that matter to me, regardless how crazy busy I am. In my books, one can never be “too busy” to have a cup of coffee, or lunch or dinner with people who actually matters in your life. There should always be time for a cup of coffee, or tea – and only because you WANT to, not because you HAVE to. Big difference.
#7 Some people are simply the wrong match for you.
You will only ever be as great as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep bringing you down. You shouldn’t force connections with people who constantly make you feel less than amazing.
If someone makes you feel uncomfortable and insecure every time you’re with them, for whatever reason, they’re probably not close friend material. If they make you feel like you can’t be yourself, or if they make you “less than” in any way, don’t pursue a connection with them. If you feel emotionally drained after hanging out with them or get a small hit of anxiety when you are reminded of them, listen to your intuition. There are so many “right people” for you, who energize you and inspire you to be your best self. It makes no sense to force it with people who are the wrong match for you.
Match-made in hell happens! Yes, I have seen it, experienced it and live to tell about it. Gut feel is a very powerful thing. Trust me (or yourself) on this one.
While I do have a lot of acquaintances, there are only a handful of people that I can actually connect with, and actually give a crap about. Those with the initial forced connection in the beginning were usually false connection and tend to fade out soon enough. To date, I only have a handful of really good, genuine friends whom I know have got my back. I am absolutely not embarrassed that I can count them with ONE hand.
#9 What you own is not who YOU are.
Stuff really is just stuff, and it has absolutely no bearing on who you are as a person. Most of us can make do with much less than we think we need. That’s a valuable reminder, especially in a hugely consumer-driven culture that focuses more on material things than meaningful connections and experiences.
This is something very close to my heart, as I whole-heartedly, truly believe that material possessions cannot and should not define who you are. It is just tragic and belittle the sole existence for your being. Having lived in Thailand long enough, it blows my mind how people are being looked up upon just by the material possessions and the brands they own. Those stuff are just…well, stuff. So enough with flaunting your material possessions to impress already. They don’t prove or define your worth.
After all, you can’t quite really bring all those material possessions with you when you die
#10 Everything changes, every second.
Embrace change and realize it happens for a reason. It won’t always be obvious at first, but in the end it will be worth it.
What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn’t stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It’s likely happening to someone nearby right now.
Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening.
However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That’s the one thing you can count on. So when life is good, enjoy it. Don’t go looking for something better every second. Happiness never comes to those who don’t appreciate what they have while they have it.
A lot of truth in that. One never knows when the tide of change comes in, and then WHAM! It hits you and put you into a tailspin you never quite expected. Even if and when you think you know, you never really would ever know. Life can be quite unpredictable.
I love how one of the comments went, “Everyone and everything is on their own journey. It isnt that they lack wisdom, it just means they arent where you are quite yet. What is right for you is not always right for the next. All living things are connected”
These profound words are not only a reminder of where I have been, but also serve as a tent pole to go forward and face life’s challenges and its adversity head-on; because the only way to go when you are down is up.
You can also find the article covered in another site here.
