Life Lessons Learned
Time has really flown by. I decided to take some time and read some of my old posts and came across one from when I first started blogging (read that post here). And I must say, my perspective has been formed over these past several months and in a way that forms how I view the world.
So here are some life lessons Kiel has learned:
- Enjoy those you’re with, you never know how long you have with them. People come and go in our lives… sometimes they move away and sometimes they die. Either way, you never know how long you have with that person. So enjoy the time you have, let them know they’re loved/valued, don’t let disputes go on for too long.
- “Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it.” I took this from Romans 12 and it’s very important to remember. If we are going to be loved by other people, we need to be genuine with them. If we mask who we truly are, then that person is loving a “brick facade” covering who we truly are. I have some amazing friends who I truly love because we’ve dealt with some deep issues together and we’ve always been “real.” This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t keep your guard up, but keep your eyes open to when someone is genuinely trying to be your friend and allow that person to know and love who you truly are.
- You can’t make someone love you. No matter how hard you try, there are going to be people who may not love you as much as you love them. The best that you can do is to let them know that you love them and care about them.
- Don’t take things for granted. Sometimes it’s easy for us to get into a routine and assume that “this is the way it’s always going to be.” For some, they make take their jobs for granted, or their spouse, etc. Don’t assume that those things will always be there, treasure them.
- Don’t wait for life to start. Your life is going on… right now! Don’t assume that life starts when you graduate college or get married. If you do, you are missing out on the point of life. Life is a journey! As humans we assume that there will always be tomorrow, but we have no control over that. So live life everyday so that when you die, you will have little to regret.
- Try new things. I am someone who is fairly routine and takes comfort in the day-to-day things. Don’t be afraid to try new things: food, hobbies, making new friends, going new places. You never know how much time you have on this earth, so enjoy it.
- Don’t feel like you have to fit into the status quo. Society has different measures of success. It used to be that graduating from high school was good enough. Then it was expected that people graduate college. Now graduating college isn’t good enough, people expect you to go get your Masters degree. Don’t get caught in the academia loop that says, “you’re only as successful as your degree.” College is a great tool to acquire knowledge, but it is not the ultimate measure of success. There are many successful people who dropped out of college to pursue their passions.
- Be open to questions about faith. I didn’t have a personal faith with Jesus until I was around 20 or 21. No aetheist can say with absolute certainty that there is no God, just as I can’t say with absolute certainty that there is a God. They are both matters of faith: the aetheist has faith that he/she is right, I have faith that I am right in what I believe. Remember, we are all created equal… we all come to the earth in the same way. It’s not an “us versus them” game. We’re human beings trying to figure out and process some very deep questions about who we are. Open up your eyes to the world around you and ask questions… dialogue with people who have different beliefs than you. You’ll be amazed at what you find.
Well, that’s all for now. To highlight some of points, I’ll leave you with this music video by Tim McGraw… “Live Like You Were Dying.” It’s a good song and really provokes questions.