Never say never and other words of wisdom

A New Year Prayer

"God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
The good fortune to run into the ones that I do,
And the eyesight to tell the difference."

Never ever say never, ever.

Never say never because that line in the sand gets erased and pushed back. Situations change. There is no telling what the future has in store, and No one knows their potential until they meet their match.

I never ever in a thousand years thought I would just want a quiet, normal, event- free new year. 

But I do. 

It was only a few years ago I thought ordinary was the enemy, because if you were ordinary, then you couldn't be extraordinary. I feared the monotony of routine and worried about sinking into the humdrum lifestyle of a rural mother, having one day blur into the next with very little to distinguish the two.

Now, what I wouldn't give to be "normal", "ordinary," or "boring" even.

I've been working out what I've learned over these past couple of years, mostly to pass on to X or Lex in the future, but today, I feel like cueing you all in.

Here are a few other things I wish I'd known:

Hill's Words of Wisdom

Where ever you are, what ever you are doing, enjoy it, if
only for the experience it is.

DON’T LET YOUR PERSONAL problems INTERFERE WITH your
professional life and don’t let your professional life become a personal
problem.

When in doubt, don’t.

Learn to control your emotions or they will control you. 

When fighting, remember, it is not about being right, it’s
about being happy.

Establish yourself so you can live comfortably
independently. You never know what will happen in life, and it’s a great
feeling knowing you can succeed on your own.

You can be independent while having loving relationships.

Before seriously dating, know exactly what you want from
height, build, family background to talent, Education, and work status. If you
go shopping without an item in mind, you’re likely to bring home something you
don’t like and want to return. The same is true with dating.

You’ll never get what you want if you don’t know what you
want.

Make what you love to do for vacation your vocation and
you’ll never work a day in your life. 

Know the difference between needs and wants.

Know your means and live within them.

A penny saved is a penny earned.
 
Make your money work for you.

Follow your heart, but still listen to your gut.

If you are questioning whether someone is a true friend or
not, they’re probably not.

Be civil and friendly to everyone, you never know what
position you all will be in one day.

Grudges, anger, jealousy, and hate do more damage to your
self than the person the feelings are aimed towards.

Forgive AND FORGET.

Never stop learning. Read books. Take classes. 

Take chances. You miss one hundred percent of opportunities
you don’t take. 
It’s better to have tried and failed than not to have tried
at all.
It’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved
at all. 

Treat others the way you want to be treated and the favor
will be returned.

Never say, write, text, film, etc. anything that you
wouldn’t want hollered down a full hallway or written across the front page of
The Huffington Post.

Think for yourself and act accordingly. Dance like nobody is watching. Sing like nobody is listening.

Nobody becomes successful by himself or herself. Embrace
others offers to help. It's a strength to understand your interdependence with others. 

Help those you can.

Learn to love spreading joy, even if it’s just through a
smile. It’s proven spreading a bad mood by yelling at someone does not make you
feel any better and it hurts someone else. 

Always ask questions. Curiosity is the spice of life.

And of course, never say never.