Recently, I was asked to generate any number of things
that "I have learned" at this point in life -- a terrific assignment
for most anyone! Here are the 100 items that resulted from
this exercise. Why not come up with a list of your own!
1. I have learned that not everything called "spiritual" really is ...
2. I have learned that it's only better to give than to receive if
you have something to contribute in the first place.
3. I have learned there's a difference between being genuinly
productive, and just keeping busy.
4. I have learned that there's always a lot more to learn.
5. I have learned that the best way to be filled when meeting
with others is to empty my own ego at the door.
6. I have learned that people who flaunt one attribute usually
have little else to offer.
7. I have learned that if someone in America and in China point
"up" simultaneously, they're pointing in opposite directions.
8. I have learned that even if Jesus physically ascended at the
speed of light, he is still in our universe 2000 years later.
9. I have learned after a fire that I can live well without an entire
office of "stuff" I previously thought was indispensible.
10. I have learned that it's better to ask some dumb questions
than to commit some even dumber mistakes.
11. I have learned to appreciate the poetry of any sport that is
being played at a championship level.
12. I have learned that "spiritual laws" are inherently conflicted.
13. I have learned that conflict can be the first step to reconciliation.
14. I have learned that relationships are the most important part of life.
15. I have learned that a hearse is practically never towing a U-Haul,
because "you can't take it with you when you go."
16. I have learned that the greatest cure for personal stress is a
satellite photo of earth taken from space.
17. I have learned that the opposite of love is not hate, but apathy.
18. I have learned that loving others is something I can choose to
do, even when I don't particularly feel like doing so.
19. I have learned that not having any choices to make is a choice
that people sometimes make for themselves, and others.
20. I have learned that my own morality is my own, and so not
always shared by others.
21. I have learned that it's often easier to tell others what's wrong
than to model what's right.
22. I have learned that personal integrity resides beneath the
layers of ethics and morality we frequently wrap around it.
23. I have learned that love survives the grave.
24. I have learned that two wrongs only lead to thirds and fourths
of the same.
25. I have learned that only God is forever, and that everything
else is negotiable.
26. I have learned that a worm in dirt inevitably thinks the whole
world is dirty, and that people sometimes think a lot like worms.
27. I have learned that being and doing are each necessary to
living a balanced existence.
28. I have learned that the road less traveled is usually the one
with the clearest markings and the smoothest pavement.
29. I have learned that how most people react to the reading of
a loved one's will is the clearest indication of their own personal
foundation.
30. I have learned that time and health is far more precious than gold.
31. I have learned that the attitudes we share can equally bring life or
death to others.
32. I've learned that it's far better to laugh than to cry, because both
laughter and tears come from the same place of the soul.
33. I've learned from the historic examples of others that daring to
be fully human can cause people to call you divine.
34. I've learned that genuine worship takes place at the altar of
meeting human need.
35. I've learned that even many of the good things in life can be
misused as weapons against others.
36. I've learned that sometimes more loyalty comes from a pet
than a relative or a friend.
37. I've learned that life is a journey without end, and a perpetual
odyssey which cannot be grasped except by an appreciation
for paradox.
38. I've learned that no team succeeds if composed solely of
the same type of players.
39. I've learned that hatred of others takes a lot more energy
than acceptance.
40. I've learned that all change takes place in the present.
41. I've learned that guilt is always over something from the past;
anxiety is always over something from the future; and either
one can destoy a perfectly good life in the present.
42. I've learned there's more ways to be unfaithful to someone
than sexually.
43. I've learned the internet has changed everything except our
way of thinking about the world.
44. I've learned that control, like magic, is just an illusion.
45. I've learned there's no second chance to make a first
impression, but there is always a chance to act impressively
in a given situation.
46. I've learned that genuine peace must be an inner reality before
it can ever become an outer reality.
47. I've learned that technology is simply a tool that can be used
for good or ill.
48. I've learned there would be far fewer people in the world if
child-birth was left to male volunteers.
49. I've learned there's an important distinction to be made between
credentials and genuine competence in any field of human
endeavor.
50. I've learned the most beautiful sound in the world is the music
of another human voice that shatters the reality of lonliness on
a given day.
51. I've learned that the best coaches know to stay on the sidelines
while the team reaps the glory on life's playing fields.
52. I've learned that wealth is no substitute for warmth.
53. I've learned that daring is no substitute for sharing.
54. I've learned that wealth, like freedom, is a relative term.
55. I have learned that offering items from a web site requires a
willingness to ship around the entire world!
56. I have learned that the human mind is like a parachute in that
neither one functions at optimum levels until having been fully
opened.
57. I have learned that the universe is a boomerang, throwing
back at us whatever we intend with a force greater than our own.
58. I have learned that only tasks can be managed; people must
be led.
59. I have learned that a leader who is too far out in front of his/her
people tends to blend in with the horizon and loses effectiveness.
60. I have learned that you cannot lose control of that which you have
never controlled in the first place -- like another human being.
61. I have learned to always question reality.
62. I have learned that what is true on one side of town can be a lie
to those who reside on the other side of town.
63. I have learned that it takes an entire village to raise a child; and
only one critic to undermine the self-esteem of that same child.
64. I have learned that genuine wisdom comes only from
life-experience, while knowledge comes from learning.
65. I have learned to ask the professionals I hire whether they
attended and were alert during the classes that pertain to my
particular situation!
66. I have learned that no matter what I have learned, someone
inevitably learned it long before I did -- including this very
statement!
67. I have learned that strangers are simply people who have
many of the same hopes, dreams and challenges as do the
people I already know.
68. I have learned that being responsible sometimes requires a
reminder that I am able to respond.
69. I have learned that delegating responsibility without accountability
is a prescription for frustration and failure.
70. I have learned to increase my own sense of gratitude by writing
"thank you notes" in the memo section of the checks I send
each month.
71. I have learned that I cannot always choose the circumstances
I face; but can always choose how I react amid each circumstance
I face.
72. I have learned that "No" is a complete sentence.
73. I have learned that love is the universal andidote to fear.
74. I have learned that "evil" is what occurs when we "live" in reverse!
75. I have learned that it's far easier to adapt old lessons to new
situations than to invent something new and untested for each
situation.
76. I have learned that every plan I make is only useful until the next
bend of the road reveals new alternatives along life's journey.
77. I have learned that only I can determine the reality I face on a
given day.
78. I have learned that our children are affected by our moods.
79. I have learned that children are not simply our future, but are
a vital part of the present as well.
80. I have learned that not everything disguised as education is
worth learning.
81. I have learned that money is like any other tool. It never work
well when misused, anymore than a hammer can serve as a saw.
82. I have learned that genuine wealth resides within personal
satisfaction.
83. I have learned that heaven is not a place, but a human condition.
84. I have learned that every bureacracy was once a creative idea that
sought to be cloned.
85. I have learned that the world would be a better place without the
words "could", "should", "ought" and "try". You ought to believe
this, too; and you could if you would only try. You really should try!
86. I have learned that it is far easier to blame others than to assume
personal responsibility for my beliefs and my actions. It's also
stiffling!
87. I have learned that abundance is always an option.
88. I have learned that running on adrenaline is like running on a
battery pak. Eventually, power is depleted and life either needs
to be recharged or discarded.
89. I have learned that corporations do not make decisions. People
within corporations make decisions.
90. I have learned that all coaching is personal coaching.
91. I have learned that not everyone who says they are ready for
change is ready for the results that change brings.
92. I have learned that genuine faith is not something I have, like
coins in my pocket; but is something that has me, instead!
93. I have learned that all religious systems have personal fulfillment
as a goal.
94. I have learned that anything and anyone can be worshiped as a
god. All that's required is one's ultimate allegience.
95. I have learned that there is no separation between the sacred
(or holy) and the profane (or secular). There is only one creation.
96. I have learned that the only "primitive" thing about most ancient
peoples was their technology, and not their humanity.
97. I have learned that it's often more difficult to be than to do.
98. I have learned that many people say things at funerals they
would never say in real life!
99. I have learned that computers, like cars, are wonderful when
they work!
weakness is far better spent delegating tasks to others whose
strength is my weakness!
©1998-1999 by James S. Vuocolo. All Rights Reserved.
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