There’s a popular list of “life lessons” going around and the story says that they were written by a 90-year-old person. This is a myth. The list is very real, but the person who wrote them is nowhere near 90 years old. She is in fact in her 50s. However, when she was in her 40s, she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and on the eve of her 45th birthday, she compiled a list of valuable life lessons that would become her most requested article of all time. Once you read the list, you’ll not be surprised. There’s a lot of wisdom in this simple but eloquent list of life lessons.
Regina Brett is an author and a reporter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Like most of us, when she started to grow older, she began reflecting on some of the things that she would like to have done differently throughout her life. She also was approaching life with a little more wisdom than she had in the past (also like most of us). I’ve not lived a perfect life by any stretch of the imagination. I’ve had ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in between. However, I’ve not had cancer, and Regina Brett has.
What I do know is that when you’re looking death in the face, it tends to bring things into focus. Several years ago, I lost the person closest to me in the entire world. When I received the phone call that told me that he had died, I dropped to the floor on my knees. In that moment, I knew one truth: “All that matters is life and love.” I don’t know where this thought came from, but it hit me hard and I’ve never forgotten it.
If you go through life and remember this simple lesson that I had to learn the hard way, you’re ahead of the game and you’re ahead of where I was at that time. The thing is, life gets in the way. We have to work for a living. We make mistakes. We “forget” that in life, all that really matters is life and love.
However, there will always be little moments to remind you of what matters. Perhaps reading this article will be one of them. Enjoy.
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You can buy Regina’s list in book format.
Remember, all that matters is life and love.
