45 Lessons Life Taught Me

By Regina Brett.

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25 No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
27 Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.

I looked it up on snopes and this is correctly attributed.

101 Fun Date Ideas

1. Go for a walk
2. Have a picnic
3. Go camping
4. Build a puzzle
5. Play soccer
6. Fly kites
7. Visit the zoo
8. Go swimming
9. Climb Trees
10. Make cars out of boxes and have a drive-in movie at home
11. Go for a bike ride
12. Plant a garden
13. Go to the skate park
14. Roller skating
15. Have relay races
16. Go to the library
17. Watch home movies
18. Build a tree house
19. Have a snowball fight
20. Play kickball
21. Go bowling
22. Have a garage sale
23. Visit historical sites
24. Go for a hike in the mountains
25. Have a car wash
26. Act out your favorite movie
27. Horseback riding
28. Go fishing
29. Play croquet
30. Make treats for a neighbor
31. Cut pictures from magazines and make a collage
32. Visit temple square
33. Plant a flower garden
34. Go to the beach
35. Play frisbee
36. Go ice skating
37. Have a bicycle rodeo
38. Play volleyball
39. Make a miniature gold course
40. Go for ice cream
41. Make ice cream
42. Have a scavenger hunt
43. Visit a museum
44. Play softball
45. Make instruments and have a band
46. Have a fashion show
47. Play board games
48. Make and pull homemade taffy
49. Have a water fight
50. Go to the rodeo
51. Make home videos
52. Plan a party
53. Go river tubing
54. Have a road rally
55. Hold a story hour
56. Go sledding
57. Play football
58. Make boats out of things around the house then try them out
59. Put on a puppet show
60. Go to the fair
61. Go miniature golfing
62. Play water balloon volleyball
63. Make lemonade and sell it
64. Birthday parties
65. Have a pet show
66. Go Christmas caroling
67. Go paint balling
68. Visit the pet store
69. cook a dutch oven dinner
70. have a pillow fight
71. make salt dough ornaments
72. have a date bake-off
73. tie-dye shirts
74. Go to local sporting events
75. Finger painting
76. Eat dinner without silverware
77. Go dancing
78. Have a water balloon fight
79. Go to musical concerts
80. Make ginger bread houses
81. Rake leaves and jump in them
82. Have a karioke night
83. Do a creative service project
84. Make homemade Easter baskets
85. Make popsicle stick crafts
86. Put on a dinner show
87. Photo scavenger hunt
88. Make house out of refrigerator boxes
89. Hold "Teacher Appreciation Dinners"
90. Make your own Halloween costumes
91. Put together a box of items for a family in need
92. Make dinner together
93. Make sidewalk art with chalk
94. Go to a play
95. Movie marathon, you pick the movies
96. Have a magic show
97. Make holiday treats
98. Build a snowman
99. Shovel the neighbor's snow
100. Go for a drive and play road games or sing songs
101. Have a watermelon eating contest

Things to Do

___ Pass love notes in the library
___ sneak away for a moonlit swim
___ snuggle
___ walk arm in arm on a foggy night
___ list and record your favorite songs
___ make s'mores over a campfire
___ walk through the woods
___ visit a national park together
___ have a sunrise picnic
___ go grocery shopping at 3:00 am
___ enjoy a romantic moonlit picnic
___ play a complete game of monopoly
___ request "your song" on the radio
___ whisper sweet nothings
___ host/attend a "christmas in july" party
___ play twister
___ get away for a day trip
___ celebrate friday the 13th
___ make a meal out of grocery store samples
___ flip a coin to decide what to do
___ play an April Fools Day Prank
___ Crash a large family reunion then eat and run
___ Play jacks
___ enter a lip sync contest
___ play a competitive game of marbles
___ go to a demolition derby
___ explore the countryside on horseback
___ go to the zoo
___ go bowling
___ have an indoor picnic
___ stay at home for a date
___ build a hosue of cards
___ take an IQ test
___ critique the movie you saw over a late dinner
___ go to homecoming
___ dress up and dance at home by candlelight
___ read old cards and letters from each other to each other
___ write a poem for someone
___ steal a kiss while under the mistletoe
___ play Hide and Seek
___ host a romantic new year's eve party for two
___ dance cheek to cheek
___ drift off as you gaze into the one you love's eyes
___ play name that tune
___ discuss your musical likes and dislikes
___ host an indoor beach party during the winter
___ sit side by side on a park bench and watch the world go by
___ have a bum night date: jeans, tshirt and no more than $5
___ play a game of hearts
___ in your spare time go miniature golfing
___ decorate your hosue for autumn and make a scarecrow
___ try a different kids of kiss, share a bag of hershey kisses
___ watch the olympic games
___ play a game of "Life"
___ Host an anniversary party for your folks
___ learn to drive a standard car
___ snuggle on a hayride
___ roast marshmellows over the fire
___ explore a spooky ghost town or haunted house
___ tell knock-knock jokes to someone you love
___ after the movie stop for a milkshake (or icecream)
___ go mountain biking or hiking
___ go repelling down a cliff
___ go rock climbing
___ visit your old school playground
___ offer a shoulder to lean on during a hard time
___ play the "what if..." game
___ play 20 questions
___ to satisfy your sweet tooth, make candy
___ be lazy w/someone you love
___ run barefoot through the park
___ celebrate December 21, the shortest day of the year
___ go star-gazing
___ dance at home to the radio
___ get into the holiday spirit by listening to christmas music
___ share your memories of past holidays with someone you love
___ split a banana split
___ explore an unknown path through the woods
___ chase rainbows together
___ wish upon a shooting star
___ watch the clouds and pick out formations
___ watch a solar eclipse
___ have a conversation in a foreign language
___ take a calligraphy class
___ have a snowball fight
___ Have a grass fight
___ Challenge each other at nintendo
___ dream of what you would do with a million dollars in one week
___ Have a late night walk after a snowfall
___ Kidnap your date from work
___ Go trick-or-treating
___ Be silly in a photo booth
___ Share a bag of gummy bears (or other junk food)
___ Watch saturday morning cartoons and share a box of donuts
___ Watch the academy awards
___ Host/Attend a Friday 13th Party
___