Life Lesson #17

Sometimes a person who has been in your life for 17 years never truly knew the person you are. Her friendship was not necessarily with you, but with her flawed version of you. That is why it was so easy for her to hurt you in the end. She never actually saw you.

Life Lesson # 16

The fault of any negative outcome belongs to those who refused to compromise.

Life Lesson # 18

In this age of information overload, it is way too easy to believe that we are privileged to all the information available. We think we know everything about a proposed law or bill, a celebrity, a high profile court case, an organization, a sporting event or television competition, etc. In reality, we only know the amount of information that we are allowed to know. We only have the information we are given, and are not the ones in control of its distribution. It completely conceivable that we are less knowledgeable of world affairs than we were prior to the invention of the internet, cable television, computers, laptops, smart phones and tablets. We are not necessarily in possession of more truth, just because we are given more information. More often than not, that information is incomplete, misrepresented, or downright false. In other words, the distribution of propaganda has never been so efficient.

Life Lesson # 15

Freedom of Speech: a person has the right to say anything no matter how stupid, hurtful or wildly inappropriate, and everyone else has the right to call them on it.

Nothing one says or does is without consequence.

Life Lesson #14

Today's politics are black and white, all or nothing. To participate you must choose one of two things as most important, money (conservative) or people (liberal). To call oneself a fiscal conservative is redundant. Any Christian who seriously asks "what would Jesus do" and is honest in answering, would choose humanity over material wealth. Thus, even though, like most people I imagine, I fall into a gray area, I must resign to be labeled a liberal and subject to all the rash judgments, stereotypes and insults from those who fall squarely into the solid black box labeled conservative. This particular lesson is learned each time I go online.

Life Lesson # 13

A person's legacy is not just the body of work she produced, but also the choices she made in her personal life.

Life Lesson #12

There is a distinct difference between criticism and complaint. However they are often mistaken for each other.

Life Lesson #11

Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from responsibility. Nor does it include a pardon from the consequences of what you say or do.

Life Lesson #10

Bias is in the eye of the beholder.

Life Lesson #9

It seems that for many people, the absence of a bias is, in fact, a bias in opposition to theirs.

Life Lesson # 8

Never say the words "I'm bored" out loud while your baby/toddler is taking a nap. No matter how improbable, your child will hear you.

Life Lesson #7

Compromise only works if both sides give in a little. It does not work when one side not only demands the other side give in 100%, but also announces that it will work tirelessly for the other's defeat. If that one side would be perfectly happy to dance on the grave of the other's humanitarian efforts, then it's okay for the other side to close the doors to negotiation in order to get things done. Just saying.

Life Lesson #6

No matter how many times you tell them your spouse's correct size, your family will always buy clothes a size smaller . . . and without fail they will buy you a size larger.

Life Lesson #5

You know you’re a parent when you start recognizing people, not from the television shows or movies that they star in, but from guest appearances on “Sesame Street.” Soon after, you start quoting Big Bird and other characters like you once quoted “The Princess Bride.”

"Everything inside the nest is for sale. Everything outside the nest is not for sale."

Life Lesson #4

You find out who your true friends are every time you move.

Life Lesson #3

It’s very difficult to stay depressed when a toddler climbs in your lap and gives you kisses in rapid fire succession.

Life Lesson #2

Some things just happen. It’s nobody’s fault. And some times you have to do something you don’t want to do . . . maybe even something you’ve sworn you never would . . . for the greater good of your family. Success is not measured by material wealth or possessions, but by the happiness that you share with your loved ones.

Life Lesson #1

From time to time I might post lessons I've learned in the new year.

1/1/2009, shortly after the stroke of midnight:

It is a bad idea to not only put sparkling cider in a sippy cup, but to also give it to a toddler who will no doubt turn it upside down and shake it while sitting in your lap.