Words of wisdom.

I've just returned home from my August long weekend adventure. And long it was! Eight hours in a vehicle, a whirlwind of family and friends, a mixed bag of emotions as I helped take care of some family business, but all in all, a good weekend. Some laughs, some tears, and too many boxes of books (but that's another story for another time).

In between all of the craziness I was able to enjoy good visits with both my Grandpa and my Gram. They're very different characters - my Grandpa spends a lot of time telling me that I should be driving an Impala "....safest car on the road, better than that little car you have." While my oh so cute (and very English) Gram likes to share her Latin skills and stories of the gypsies that camped out across the road of her school in Northern England. It's guaranteed that when I visit them we're going to have a few laughs and I'm going to come away with some of their wisdom and knowledge.

This weekend was funny though. As different as they are, they both shared the same wisdom and advice to me. It's almost like they'd called each other to discuss the different points. 


Driving home tonight, I had the opportunity to really let their words sink in. And I'd like to share a few of their key ideas and thoughts. Ideas and thoughts that we can all apply to our lives -

1. Do what you love. Life's too short to be unhappy.

2. Don't work yourself to death. It's just a job.

3. Surround yourself with good people. Find compatibility in those that you associate yourself with. Enjoy their company and make time for them (something that I really need to make an effort to do....you know who you are!).

4. Explore the world while you're young. Don't wait until you have other commitments.

5. Don't be too shy. Be yourself, but don't be afraid to break out of your shell.

6. Make time for family.

7. Take everything in stride. 

8. Just be yourself. Stay true to who you are. 

9. Acknowledge what you've accomplished (too often I forget about how far I've come - both personally and professionally)

10. And lastly, buy an Impala (okay I made that one up....but yeah, my Grandpa would totally say that....along with mentioning something about how certain cities use them as their police cars, "....so you know that they're good").


I think that without realizing it, they both gave me the pep-talk that I've needed for awhile. I've been feeling kind of uncertain about a lot of stuff as of late, and while I didn't really come away with any clarity as to what I should do, where I should go, et cetera, I did come away with a smile and a list of ideas to follow (minus buying an Impala) from two completely different individuals that have both been through so much and seen so much in their years (totally a run-on sentence, but it's late and I don't care to change it...).


You have to figure that with a combined 167 years on this Earth that they know what they're talking about - right? I like to think so.


D-


What's the best bit of advice or words of wisdom that you've received?