This past week has showed me that I can be the luckiest bastard on the planet. Love me or loathe me, you can’t take it away from me. True to form, and not one to rest on my laurels, I have decided to do a write up and a “take away” from the 7 things I learned about life in the preceding 168 hours.
Shock changes
If you are ever going to change, you need to be hit hard. That sounds like a bad thing, but the reality is that a tidal wave of change can come in both positive and negative forms. Most people encounter negative experience and they learn they really need to change from it, but the same can be said from positive experiences. Why stay static when you realise there is something much better out there for you?
Follow your heart
To this end, you need to look out for yourself all the time, and you need to “follow your heart”. As cliched as that sounds, it is true. My philosophy, that ‘life is one big holiday’ is proof of my self-evident interest in ensuring that I am doing the things I love at all times. Of course, it is easy to fall into the routine, the mundane, the inane and what ever, but at every turn opportunities exist for you to grab hold and do things you love.
Chance encounters rock
I am a firm believer in chance. This is the reverse of fate. I think you can make your own destiny and fate by your actions, but chance implies a little more of the chaos theory. You can’t predestine chance, and you can always be surprised by it, and of course when it surprises you for the better you have a lot of positive energy to gain from it. The best things in my life have been completely random. You can’t hang around for them though, enjoy them while they last and live life whilst you “wait”.
Je ne regrette rien!
I regret only 2 things in life … ok so I don’t buy my own bullshit, HAH! but still. Regret nothing. Life is for living, if you constantly live in the past it is slowly going to eat your soul. Regrets are mistakes and you must learn from them, and again they improve your life. As you can tell, each step and take away from this week is designed to improve, and luckily for me, that has been the over-riding theme of an incredible week.
Be authentic
Ok so, you regret nothing, you learn from your experiences and you are humbled. To this end, the reality is that you need to be genuine, authentic, honest and just be. Again, super cliched, but oh so true. People respond positively to genuine articles. No one likes the fake asshole that prances around like an arrogant so-and-so. Those people might be able to boss everyone around and get their way, but they wont win out 100% of the time. Be true to form, every time!
No apology for who you are
Backing up on the authentic side of the 7 day equation, you needn’t regret who you are. If you are authentic, you don’t need to give a damn if people judge you, because ultimately you know that you are a decent person. You have great values, you practice honesty, and you look out for others. In England we all love class, and it makes me laugh most of the time, because you can wear a jacket and people will judge you one way, and you take it off and they will judge you another! Don’t be a chameleon, just be yourself and don’t say sorry for it.
Life has many paths
Even if you want life to work out exactly as planned every time, it won’t. Don’t ever bet on it, I can tell you that now. But that being said, that doesn’t mean it can’t work out as planned, and there is always more than one path to reach your destination. I am a huge subscriber to the thought that there is no “right” answer to life. This rolls over to the notion that there is no 1 path through life, and if you want something badly, whether you get it now, or you can get it later, you will still be just as happy, even if it doesn’t feel that way in the moment. Sometimes you just need to give life some space and things works out in the end.
And there you have it. No doubt there is more, but these will do for now!