Learn Some Stuff: Six Things I’ve Learned

In my almost 43 years of life, I’ve learned a few things…

If we live long enough, we will all learn things.

Some things can not be taught, they have to be lived.

And, sometimes we have to learn things 2 or 3 or 29 times for them to stick. 😉

In no particular order because I don’t play favorites…just ask my kids! 😉

• Never say never! More times than I can count, I’ve been taught this simple truth. Before any of our kids were old enough to throw tantrums or act crazy out in public (because that’s what kids do) I remember thinking my kid will never act like that! Yeah. Well, considering we have 4 kiddos and fostered 1 more, we’ve had our fair share of kids acting like have lost their complete minds out in public!! Or when I said, “I would never allow a cat on my kitchen counter, that’s disgusting!” Now, we have two cats and I eat my words every. single. day. They are always on our counters. I don’t love that they do that, I tried “training” them not to, but then I quickly learned they are cats and they do what they want. End of story. So now, we all just understand that they will get on the counters. I clean the counters often and life goes on. They’ve trained Joe and I well. 😉 …You get the picture, I could go on and on giving examples of this. I now try really hard not to say “I will never…” because often times that’s exactly what God would have me do.

  

• Bigger is not always better! Despite what they think in Texas. Ha! If I have learned anything over the past few years, it is that bigger houses and bigger cars and bigger checkbooks are not always better!! Sure, those things are really nice to have, but they are not fulfilling. What is fulfilling is loving what you have and being genuinely grateful. “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15
•  Don’t judge others! I know, I know…that’s easier said than done. Admittedly I struggle with this. I shouldn’t, but I do. I catch myself thinking things and then I have to make myself stop. A few years ago I found myself in a situation that could have been easily misjudged by someone else. It was hugely eye opening for me! Let me explain, as I stated above, we were foster parents in the past and typically when children are in foster care they are on state medical insurance. I went to pick up my child’s prescription at our local pharmacy in their drive thru. We had just purchased our brand new Nissan Armada. If you don’t know, the Armada is a HUGE bus-like SUV. At the time we had 4 kids at home and one away in college so we needed a big, huge SUV. So, I pull up to the drive thru and instantly I start thinking ‘what are they going to think of me whipping out my state medicare card for this prescription in my brand new white, shiny massive SUV?!’ I’m sure I had a Coach purse sitting in the seat beside me, also. Anyway, I gave the lady working the insurance card, she gave me my prescription, and I gladly left. I don’t remember her having any kind of judgmental reaction. I’m sure she didn’t even notice, BUT that was a huge lesson for me! I learned right then and there that things aren’t always what they seem and we should not judge others. As I stated, I’m still a work in progress with this, but I do remind myself of this when I start to go down that rabbit hole.
• Less is more! This kind of correlates with bigger is not always better. I think in today’s society we are always striving for more, more, more. And, that’s great and all, but is it worth the cost that more requires? I love my life, don’t get me wrong, I am extremely blessed in so many ways, but I do think back to the days when we were in our first home and life was simpler…smaller house= less to clean, less expense, less stuff and no constant communication via cell phones, email, texting (those things existed just not to the extent they do today…we’re talking all the way back to 2000!! ha!) and no social media. Like I said, there is nothing wrong with those things, but I’m learning that oftentimes less is more satisfying.
• Everyone is going through something! So, be kind. Life is hard. We all have our “stuff” that we are dealing with or trying to navigate through. When I meet someone and they aren’t exactly friendly I try to remind myself that I don’t know what their situation is or what they are dealing with.

  

• Learn some stuff! I’ve learned that I need to keep learning. 🙂 When we stop learning we start dying. Really! I’m not talking about actually enrolling in college classes, unless that’s what you want to do. Our daughter, Caisey, graduated from Murray State 2 years ago and our son, Bradley, is currently a freshman at the University of South Carolina. I couldn’t be prouder of them!! Our youngest son and I were recently talking about him graduating high school and what that might look like for him, he quickly told me he didn’t want to go to college. I told him that’s perfectly fine, he doesn’t have to go to college. He does not enjoy school and I don’t think college is a good fit for him (as of now, of course that could change down the road). I did tell him, though, that there are lots of ways to continue learning. We have so much at our fingertips today…podcasts, Google, Youtube, books, conferences, etc. We can pretty much learn anything we want to know! When I first started this blog I had absolutely NO idea how to do any of it!! So, I Googled ‘how to start a blog’…it may have taken me 47 years to finally publish my first post, but I did it! Over the course of the year that I’ve been blogging I’ve learned lots of things and there are still LOTS and LOTS of things that I need to learn. Over time, I will. 🙂

  

So, these are a few of my little nuggets. Most of these sayings I’m sure you’ve heard also, but sometimes it takes living life a little to truly understand what they mean.

What could you add to the list? I’d love to hear!! 🙂

Y’all take care and thank you for reading! ~xoxo, Susan