photo by carf
Have you ever had an epiphany? One of those “a-ha” moments where something just clicks for you? Maybe it’s something you’ve been struggling with for a long time, or maybe it was a piece of advice you learned from a friend. Whatever the source of our insight, it’s these moments that bring us to a deeper understanding of our world. The better understanding we have of life, the more we live in the truth.
Below are 33 of the most powerful lessons in my life. I encourage you to share yours with us by leaving a comment below. =)
- Often those who aren’t the easiest to love are the ones who need it the most.
- Seeing children play can make even the bluest day brighter.
- Money is not the root of all evil, fear is.
- The secret to happiness is the acceptance of yourself.
- Happiness is not based on external status, it is an internal state.
- Money can’t make me happy, but self-sufficiency gives me the freedom to share myself creatively, without worrying about how I’m going to pay the bills.
- Every man has a right to choose his own destiny.
- The path is the way.
- Coming is going, going is coming.
- The hardest is found in the easiest.
- Heaven and hell exist here and now, within your own mind.
- Life is the largest stage.
- Music is one of the most supreme expressions of life. It is art in it’s most transitory form. It is gone within an instant, and therefore, extremely precious.
- Follow your gut, you’ll thank yourself later.
- Remember what your mother taught you, it came from the most sacred place of love that exists.
- Never let an argument last, never hold a grudge, it will make your heart heavy.
- Forgive those that have yet to do you wrong, and you won’t have to worry about it should the time come.
- Be grateful for this moment, it is all there is.
- The source of most of your frustrations and anxiety are the result of living in the future, or the past.
- Spend time alone with yourself every day.
- Always go with yourself, never against yourself.
- You have to be your own best friend.
- If you don’t like what someone else says to you, you can walk away. But if you don’t like what you say to yourself, you can’t walk away. Therefore, if you’re going to be with yourself all the time, you might as well be nice to yourself.
- The truth shall indeed set you free.
- Lies only exist if we believe in them.
- Even the most fundamental beliefs about reality are not true in themselves. Our thinking makes them true in our experience.
- Your thoughts create reality.
- The biggest lie is the lie of your imperfection.
- Being kind is more important than being right.
- Your heart is your best compass.
- Cherish those that you love, you never know if you’ll see them again.
- Your beliefs are a filter for your reality.
- Love is the supreme expression of life, it is the essence and ground of all creation.
Read part two of this series: 33 of Life’s Most Powerful Lessons (pt. 2)
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see good….to become good….
then you can do good
this is a lesson to be of service to others
JUST SEE ONLY GOOD IN OTHERS
YOU TO BECOME GOOD.
WHEN YOU BECOME GOOD
YOU CAN THEN OFFER SERVICE TO HUMANITY
Most of your list I agree with completely. Some I may have misunderstood, or I disagree with:
8. The path is the way.
What does that mean? Sounds like trite christian dogma. Perhaps I’m missing the point?
9. Coming is going, going is coming.
Sounds like BS to me.
10. The hardest is found in the easiest.
Ditto.
24. The truth shall indeed set you free.
Almost Ditto. The truth can be very freeing, but sometimes the truth can be agonizing…
25. Lies only exist if we believe in them.
BS. Lies exist, and are usually found out, but sadly too often after enormous damage has been wreaked.
28. The biggest lie is the lie of your imperfection.
At a personal level, perhaps. Looking outside to the world, by George, some enormous lies get people killed.
===
A couple offerings – maybe some overlap.
34. Be kind – Others may not remember what you said or did. They *will* remember how you made them feel.
35. Would you rather be right? Or Happy?
A couple of additions:
34. Don’t die with your music still in you. -Dwayne Dyer
35. The worst enemy has outposts inside your mind.
36. That which you judge you will one day become.
37. The purpose of life is to experience it and become the highest ideal of ourself.
Also the four agreements, from the book _The Four Agreements_
1. Be impeccable with your word
2. Never take anything personally
3. Do not make assumptions
4. Always do your best
Thanks for the insight on this list, about more than half of it I’ve experienced and from reading the rest, have prepared myself and made changes, truly inspiring and helps make sense of what things are when it happens.
From above: “My saying would be “Live life or die.â€
From The Shawshank Redemption, “Get busy livin’… or get busy dyin’”
My favourite is, ” Go to the end of the block and hang a left. Keep going until you see a big blue house – That’s not it. Go further until you can’t go any further, then stop. There you are.”
nice.. i love this one “Your heart is your best compass” =)
great stuff, although I believe 14 & 30 are contradictory!
amazing collective.
there are soo many out there its hard to chose 33.
thanky uo for breaking it down into simpler terms.
everyone seems to have their own input being it everyone learns their own lessons based on life experiences.
Good list dude.
I love most all of these,and they foolow my own thoughts.My very favorite is…Be grateful for this moment,that is all there is.
Great Stuff!
“Life is Built” That is my input.
I love many things about Buddhism and do my best to practice many of its lessons.
The only problem with it is that, for me, to try and understand life without trying to understand the creator is like trying to make a recipe without knowing the main ingredient. This is the flaw, in my estimation, of Buddhism. The Eightfold path does have many good qualities – it’s just a bit too shallow.
Nice list…my own 2 cents added below…
34. Life is movement. There is no stillness. Even in breathing the chest heaves, the blood flows, the heart pulses, the brain makes millions of instantaneous connections. Those who seek perfect stillness will find disappointment. When you cease to move, you cease to live.
35. Keep your ego in check. The only thing we have that gives us any sort of superiority is our intellect. Goldfish eyesight is more evolved than ours, dogs have a better sense of smell, rabbits have better hearing, turtles can live much longer, elephants have better recollection, and even cockroaches will most likely outlast us. We’re just one part of the universe. Our reasoning allows us to “think” we’re more important than any other, and therein lies our greatest problem.
36. We’re not poisoning the planet, we’re poisoning ourselves. The planet doesn’t need saving, and it doesn’t need us to survive. The earth was here long before us, and will remain long after we’ve disappeared. It’s our existence as a species that’s threatened…our ability to thrive is what we must save.
37. Don’t be small-minded. To think “this is the only moment there is” is to reject the idea that other moments might be happening somewhere else at exactly the same time. Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Wow, this list is amazing and beautiful in it’s simplicity.
So many resonated with me but this one is the one that was an “aha moment”
“Money is not the root of all evil, fear is.”
I can’t believe this but when I read this, I totally found myself agreeing with this but not following it. I am always talking about making “x” amount per day so I don’t have to work a corporate job. I need to let that goal go and enjoy what I’m doing more. Thanks for the enlightenment!
Sincerely,
Brad Spencer
What an amazing list you’ve compiled. I’d love to list which ones resonate with me most, but I’d have to list most of the numbers. That being said, I have to agree with Brad that #3 about fear is especially impactful.
~Monica Ricci
That’s an inspiring list!
I really like number 29…
Fantastic list on life’s powerful lessons.
life is the largest stage…hmmm….where did that thought originate? perhaps from shakespeare? all the world’s a stage? see, there’s not an original thought in the world.
That’s nice.
Those are wonderful. They contain such a gentle and deep power.
Thanks for sharing!
Jeff
sometimes it is better to be kind than to be right
Thank you, it made me cry. Number 1 was my favorite.
Hey!
Great post, I would just add one more:
Be generous whenever you can
ohh and have as much fun as possible in ALL situations :)
I liked the list alot and philly toms 2 cents as well. I keep a small list on my phone of ah ha moments i read from time to time and im going add some from here. But theirs to i don’t understand?
Coming is going, going is coming.
The hardest is found in the easiest.
Great…I agree with all.
My input (no. 17)… In the end, there is nothing to forgive or blame.
I love them all Jonathon but would like to expand the philosophy behind number 4. One needs to love oneself in order to love others. That is the foundation of happiness but how does one learn to love oneself? There really is some truth to faking it until it becomes real. I always tell everyone who has a poor self-image to make the effort every day to help others in need. Some need help with a door, someone always needs to get into traffic from a parking lot or to change into their lane, some could really use a kind word or a simple compliment, while others may only need a smile to brighten their day. The subtle rewards from helping others also slowly and subtly transforms the self-image of the helper in a positive way. The day will eventually come when the cumulative love from those who were helped becomes the love within and resurrects the love of self.
Great list, and I agree with much of it.
3. Money is not the root of all evil, fear is.
….how about “religion”, that’s the true root of ALL evil.
Liberals are the root of ALL evil.
I have a few life lessons as well but I can only put a couple of them into words…
1. If you worry why pray, If you pray why worry?
2. If you need to learn how to love you should start with someone you hate.
Tank you for your lessons they ring true to me as well!
your online reader Jesie
This is the best page on the internet.
:D
Great quotes. I’d add something like:
- Success in any study comes down to a mastery of the fundamentals in that pursuit. Learn those fundamentals and you will succeed.
Interesting read … thanks !
Good list. But #3 Should be “The love of money is the root of all evil”
your lessons have exeptional value to me i have a lesson also anything you can get anything you want in your life but the question is what you do with it.our bodys are trapped to this planet but our minds are free
#32 about your beliefs is very powerful!
Belief – smack dab in the middle is the word: lie
beliefs aren’t necessarily true :)
AJ Kumar
My thoughts create reality.
thank you for the list!
Our thoughts really do create reality.
The stories we tell ourselves are all that really matters. History illustrates it and our own lives prove it. That’s why it is so important to carefully guard the information that we allow ourselves to belief.
Our friends, coworkers, managers, children and spouses tell us a story – but it’s not the real story. There is no real story : )
Tell an inspiring story.
Nice post.
“If you want to be happy,be.”
umm amy religion might be the root of all evil for those who do not believe,for those who do it’s the root of life…
Very thoughtful blog.
One of my thoughts.. So far the croccus have always come up!
Great list and thank you for it. I would have to add,
we are all in this together…
excellent work mate. look at all the responses! amazing! It was good reading this.. i learnt some new ones myself =D take care.
I really like this list. It’s very helpful when you’re having a bad day. One I like to live by is “there is good in everybody, you just have to search a little harder to find it in some.”
Thank you for this. I really needed it.
“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” Vince Lombardi
Replace the word ‘problem’ with the word ‘challenge’ and it will change your perception positively.