Life Lessons

I decided to start a new type of blog post: Life Lessons. These are the lessons that are "whispered" to us in life, if we decide to listen. We each get different messages, although some have the same meaning. Today, I learned a great deal by listening.  Don't be surprised if I start tweeting these with the appropriate hashtag #lifelessons.

In random order, because this is how it comes to us:

• We all are on individual paths.
• We all have life lessons to learn, and we learn in our own time, at our own pace.
• We see other people's challenges so easily, but we have to learn that it is not our path.
• We cannot control other people's journeys.
• We can understand that we all have our own issues and time frames to deal with these issues.
• People need to understand more to cause less conflict.
• Our experiences in life are different so our perspectives are different.
• We can agree, and we can agree to disagree.
• It is out of love that we can understand and help when the other person wants our help.
• We can't force our perspective and ideas on someone else.
• People can choose to listen and learn from us, but they may not choose to, and we can be okay with this.
• We can love and pray for someone else, to support them.
• Conflict arises when we are not allowing freedom. 
• Freedom of perspective is important. 
• Each of us have our own blueprint in life, going against this blueprint will harm ourselves.
• Happiness comes from living our own truths.
• Attempting to make someone else happy by disowning your own truth makes everyone miserable.
• Expecting other people to act a certain way only makes everyone miserable.
• Hoping and praying for the best is part of supporting other people.
• Visualizing the best is the best.
• Positive energy does help.
• Negative energy does not help.
• You may mean well, but that is all it will be, meaning well, not doing well.
• People need to take action when they are ready to take action.
• People have different paces for action. 
• Positive baby steps are to be celebrated! It means someone is headed in the right direction.
• Teach by means of example, but know that your example might not bring meaning to someone else.
• You have a say when enough is enough. Sometimes we have to move away from negative people to be a positive, happy person.
• Jesus wanted peace and love. To follow Jesus (and/or the other main religions) is to follow peace and love.
• Jesus does not want war.
• Jesus would help the poor, any way possible.
• War comes out of hate and intolerance of other people.
• War does not come out of love.
• Any war in the name of a religion is a false belief. 
• Religion does not cause war, bad, misguided people cause war.
• If we all followed peace and love, which is what is taught from the main religions, we would not have war.
• Following false people in power is like following false idols. 
• We all want to belong. We can belong to the side of good and doing the right thing! 
• Growing peace and love will diminish fear and hate.
• Our world is imbalanced. The greed for power and money has dangerously taken over.
• These greedy people have bought our media, our religions, our beliefs.
• Beware of the information that you receive if it comes from greed.
• Many people at the top are not doing the right thing (out of peace and love). 
• Many people at the top are not paying fair wages, equal wages, and instead are hoarding the profits for their own greed. 
• The people at the top who are doing the right thing are prospering and helping other people prosper too.
• We need to vote again, all of us, it is our right.
• We need to vote with our money and stop investing in the greed. 
• If you see a company doing greedy, harmful things, you don't have to buy from this company. 
• We have the power to understand, tolerate, and take positive action.
• If people are focused too much on other people, it means you are ignoring something that needs to be focused on in yourself.
• You have to make yourself happy. Do not expect other people to do this work for you.
• Substances in life are good for temporary solutions, but not for life solutions.
• Let other people do what they want unless it truly is harming someone else. 
• Laws are made to keep us from harming other people (and sometimes ourselves).
• Laws made out of beliefs to force other people to your way of life are not good laws.
• Tolerance of other people's perspectives is the only way we can have true freedom.
• It's best to not challenge unless it is truly harmful.
• We create conflict by not being tolerant.
• Is their lifestyle choice really harming you? It may not be what you want to see, but does it affect your every day life? 
• What if they said that your lifestyle was bad? It's about perspective. Other people have different views. 
• Your attempts to force other people into your box is harming other people.
• You cannot save someone who does not want to be "saved."
• Creating more poverty and bad life situations is not a good solution. 
• If you want positive change, become a positive solution.
• Forcing other people to bow to your perspective creates conflict, and ultimately war.
• Cast no stone unless you are free from sin. Most of us, especially politicians, should not be casting stones at one another.
• Stop and see if it is a part of you before preaching what is right or wrong.
• If right is part of you, go ahead and preach, but people still have the choice to listen.
• If wrong is part of you, quit preaching.
• Defending yourself is different than causing conflict.
• In a best world, defending yourself without violence is best. 
• Violence does not have to be a choice. It is a choice, but we do not have to choose it.
• Being greedy does not have to be a choice. It is a choice, but we do not have to choose it.
• We can choose to help our fellow man and still have enough for ourselves.
• Maybe it is time for us to figure out what is enough. 
• Maybe growing as a person is more important than growing your bank account.
• When keeping money that you don't really need harms other people, that is greed.
• You can't take it with you. Doing good for other people will transfer since good will live on.
• Creating a power gap, pushing and forcing people into a state of poorness can only cause more conflict.
• Do the right thing! Act out of peace and love. WWJD? 
• If you are not acting out of peace and love or WJWD, then you are causing conflict, and you are part of the problem, not the solution.
• Be a positive force in this world. We all have the choices in front of us. Choose well.