What I've Learned

1. You can love someone very much doesn't mean that they have to love you in the same way or as much.

2. We are often too judgmental. Life is short and very little that happens is that deep. Learn to forgive.

3. We want God, who none of us has ever seen, to forgive us... and yet, we can't forgive the people we actually see everyday for some real or imagined slight.

4. When I was a child, I was fascinated by the neighborhood bar. It was this big, dark room that people sat in, drank in, and it looked mysterious and cool. My grandfather and uncles always said, "Don't worry 'bout that. You'll know what's inside when you get older." Now that I've been in a few bars, I wonder what all the fuss was about!

5. The road to redemption often seems like the longest and most narrow road one has to travel.

6. I spent the first 18 years of my life wanting to be free of my parents so I could do what I wanted to do and not have to hear their unsolicited advice. Now, I'd give anything for one or both of them to tell me what to do sometimes. Unfortunately, it's too late!

7. When I was 18 years old and about to leave for college, my grandmother told me to "never forget who you are and how you were raised." Needless to say, sometimes I did forget and everytime in my life that I did, I got an unpleasent reminder of who I was and how I was expected to comport myself.

8. My mother always told me that, "A job is just how you make your money. Never confuse it with who you are." Wisdom, I actually listened to. It has served me well and helped me to keep my balance.

9. People love us the best that they can. It's not always the best that we expect them to or rather, that we want them to.

10. We are often surrounded by people who love us... and yet, we'll stress over the one person who does not love us. Recognize the people in your life that really love and care about you. The haters aren't really that important!