50 Things I've Learned in 50+ years

Author Unknown
1. Its better to sing off key than not to sing at all.
2. Promptness shows respect.
3. You cant avoid offending people from time to time. When you dont mean it, apologize. When you do mean it, accept the consequences.
4. The first person to use the expression Get a life! in any dispute is the loser.
5. The medium is not the message. Those who issue blanket condemnations of any form of communicationbe it TV, tabloids, text messages or blogssimply arent paying attention.
6. The most valuable thing to have is a good reputation, and its neither hard nor expensive to acquire one: Be fair. Be honest. Be trustworthy. Be generous. Respect others.
7. Prejudice and bigotry is hard-wired into us. You cant overcome it until you acknowledge it.
8. Dont be bothered when people dont share your tastes in music, sports, literature, food and fashion. Be glad. Youd never get tickets to anything otherwise.
9. Cough syrup doesnt work.
10. Empathy is the greatest virtue. From it, all virtues flow. Without it, all virtues are an act.
11. The Golden Rule is the greatest moral truth. If you dont believe in it, at least try to fake it.
12. Keeping perspective is the greatest key to happiness. From a distance, even a bumpy road looks smooth.
13. You cant win arguing with police officers or referees, but every so often you can fight City Hall.
14. Its not political correctness that dictates that we try not to insult others beliefs and identities. Its common decency.
15. It may not feel like it, but its good luck when you have people at home and at work who arent afraid to tell you when youre wrong.
16. Its 10 times easier to fall in love than to stay in love. And no matter what the sad songs say about romance, broken hearts do mend.
17. Dont waste your breath proclaiming whats really important to you. How you spend your time says it all.
18. Keeping an open mind is as big a challenge as you get older as keeping a consistent waistline.
19. Its never a shame when you admit you dont know something, and often a shame when you assume that you do.
20. Wounds heal faster under bandages than they do in the open air.
21. Fear of failure is a ticket to mediocrity. If youre not failing from time to time, youre not pushing yourself. And if youre not pushing yourself, youre coasting.
22. Anyone who judges you by the kind of car you drive or shoes you wear isnt someone worth impressing.
23. Grudges are poison. The only antidote is to let them go.
24. If youre in a conversation and youre not asking questions, then its not a conversation, its a monologue.
25. In everyday life, most talent is simply hard work in disguise.
26. Great parents can have rotten kids and rotten parents can have great kids. But even though biology plays a huge role in destiny, thats no excuse to give up or stop trying.
27. Four things that most people think are lame but really are a lot of fun: barn dancing, charades, volleyball and sing-alongs.
28. Two cheap, easy self-improvement projects: Develop a strong handshake and start smiling when you answer the phone.
29. When something that costs less than $200 breaks and its not under warranty and you cant fix it yourself in half an hour, its almost certainly more cost-effective to throw it out.
30. Most folk remedies are nonsense, but zinc really does zap colds.
31. Physical attraction is nice, but shared values and a shared sense of humor are the real keys to lasting love.
32. To keep dental visits regular, schedule your next appointment on your way out from your last appointment.
33. The 10-minute jump start is the best way to get going on a big task youve been avoiding. Set a timer and begin, promising yourself that youll quit after 10 minutes and do something else. The momentum will carry you forward.
34. Laundry day is much easier when all your socks are the same and you dont have to sort them.
35. Candor is overrated. Its hard to unsay what youve said in anger and almost impossible to take back what youve written.
36. Goals that you keep to yourself are just castles on the beach. If youre determined to achieve something, tell people about it and ask them to help you stick with it.
37. Mental illness is as real as diabetes, arthritis or any other disease, and no more disgraceful. Its the stigma thats disgraceful.
38. In crisis or conflict, always think and act strategically. Take time to figure out what the winning outcome is for you, then work toward it.
39. All the stuff you have lying around that youll never want, need, wear or look at again? It just makes it harder to find what you do want, need or intend to wear. File it, donate it or throw it out.
40. Exercise does not take time. Exercise creates time.
41. Almost no one stretches, flosses or gives compliments often enough.
42. It pays to keep handy a list that includes a trusted plumber, electrician, locksmith, appliance repair specialist and heating contractor. When you really need one is no time to start looking.
43. The store-brand jelly, cereal, paper goods, baking supplies and pharmacy products are good enough.
44. When you mess up, fess up. Its the fastest way, if there is one, to forgiveness.
45. When youre not the worst-dressed person at a social event, you have nothing to worry about.
46. Be truthful or be quiet. Lies are hard to keep track of.
47. Your education isnt complete until youve learned to take a hint.
48. Theres a good reason to be secretive about your age. People tend to assume things when they know how old you are. Oh, hes turning 50, they might say, for example, probably full of cranky self-lacerating aphorisms that he thinks qualify as wisdom.
49. Whatever your passion, pursue it as though your days were numbered. Because they are.
50. Readers love lists. You got to the bottom of this one, didnt you?