20 Things that Belong On Everyone’s TO-DON’T List
This particular blog starts out with a really awesome guy on a motorcycle and it is their story so click here if you want to read it. It doesn't take long. I'm not going to provide you with all the insight and flair that they give either. That is their glitz and glamour. I have my own thing to do here. Let's just get to it. I will try to be quick but come on, it IS 20 things!!!
#1 - DON'T BE LAZY - Good advice here. I need someone to write that on every wall in my house. In blood, preferably. I mean, it's going to take something pretty "out there" to get my attention; especially when I'm laying on the couch watching my soaps!
#2 - DON'T COWER FROM LIFE'S NECESSARY CHALLENGES - In other words, keep turning the pages of your book of life because...all that bad stuff that you have been challenged with...ends up making the most beautiful story ever. Of your life.
#3 - DON'T JUST TAKE THE DEFAULT PATH - It's okay to be different!
#4 - DON'T WAIT FOR THE PERFECT TIME - If you keep waiting, you will wait forever. There is nothing perfect in the world...not even time.
#5 - DON'T PUT ON A MASK - I will sum this up in their words because I can't make it any plainer than they have. "You can’t let the judgment of others stop you from being YOU. "
#6 - DON'T HIDE YOUR HUMANNESS - It's okay to show your "softer" side (sometimes). A lot of times in life, we have to deal with a lot of really hard stuff. And a lot of times in life, we feel like we might crumble. It's okay to crumble sometimes.
#7 - DON'T MAKE EVERYTHING FEEL LIKE A CHORE - Again, I'm going to need someone to come splatter my walls AND remind me how lucky I am to "get" to do the laundry, dishes, floors, windows, etc..
#8 - DON'T TRY TO CONQUER EVERYTHING IN A SINGLE LEAP - If I have said this once (to my husband), I have said it a thousand times. It may not feel like you have much right now but down the road, when you look back, you are going to smile at what you had and at what you still want/need. There's no timeline. It's okay to take a while to "get there."
#9 - DON'T FOCUS ON PAST PROBLEMS - Remember that book of life we spoke about earlier?? Yeah, well this kinda hits there a little bit for me. Everything that you have done in your life to this point, it has a chapter. Leave it there. No matter what it is. It has it's place and that's where it should remain.
#10 - DON'T THINK ABOUT WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN - Again, I will use what they say in their blog simply because I can't say it better...or in more words. "Chances are if it should have been, it would have been. So say it out loud: “There was another life that I might have had, but I am having this one.”"
#11 - DON'T LET STUPID LITTLE THINGS GET TO YOU - I truly think this is easier said than done! Although I'm much, much better at this today than I was five years ago, it's still hard. Sometimes, a lot of little stuff just makes you wanna kick the cat. I try to remind myself that being upset at even the smallest stuff, just takes more effort and remember, I like lazy (shhh, don't tell Marc and Angel)!!!
#12 - DON'T TRY TO HOLD ONTO EVERYTHING - Marc and Angel say it PERFECTLY when they say "When things aren’t adding up in your life, it’s time to start subtracting." I believe this is so right on in many aspects of our lives. Whether it is actual "things" that you need to let go of but relationships as well. Lord knows I've went through my share of those. From friendships to intimate relationships. But I believe they all have a time and a reason. This goes for socks and underwear too!
#13 - DON'T NEGLECT YOUR PRESENT JOYS - So...appreciate what you have now and treat it like it's the last time. I believe we ALL take way too much for granted in our short lives. We take people for granted, their feelings, their time, our time. You name it, we normally take it for granted because we are spoiled and a bit selfish. It's human nature.
#14 - DON'T JUST TAKE - I say this all the time and I try to give, give, give. I am so blessed to have so much good in my life and there are so many that are so much more unfortunate than I. That's why I take stuff to the mission a couple of times a year. I am always looking for other ways to reach out and help someone else. Trust me when I say I have tried to not do it so much but it's in my blood and I can't help myself. It makes my heart happy. You need to find your niche and make your heart happy too!
#15 - DON'T WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT - This is the BEST advice on the earth. If you want something, work for it. No true success had it easy. It came from hard work and some time, patience, sweat and tears invested.
#16 - DON'T ALWAYS TRY TO BE RIGHT - This was MAJOR HARD for this girl to learn. I come from a big family of "I'm right" and it's hard to not be like that. It has taken me a long time but I am easily the first to admit when I'm wrong, when I don't know, and when someone needs to explain something to me because I'm just not getting it! Like I said, it has take me a LONG time to learn this.
#17 - DON'T JUDGE BEFORE YOU KNOW - We are human. This is hard. We have been taught to judge since we were little, whether our parents want to admit that or not. It is learned behavior. But do your best to stop it. It's not nice and it's not right and you don't want other judging you!
#18 - DON'T HOLD ON TO HATE - Wanna hear something funny? I used to do this! I used to hold onto my anger and hate for people and things and then one day something happened. I forgot what I was mad about. THAT WAS A BIG EYE OPENER!!! Try explaining to someone why you can't stand them when you can't remember why!!! Yeah, that's no good. And like I said on #11, it takes effort and well, I have enough crap to remember without having to remember why I was upset with someone on some certain day. Nope, not going to do it. I will not hate.
#19 - DON'T PLACE IRRATIONAL CONDITIONS ON YOUR LOVE - Simply put...if you want unconditional acceptance, you first have to give unconditional acceptance. Beautiful!
#20 - DON'T NEGLECT YOUR CLOSE FRIENDSHIPS - It has taken 20 of these things but I finally stumbled across one that I don't agree with. You can go to their page to see what they have to say on this one but to sum it up in my words, I see the words "hang in, connected, fight, don't walk away, distracted, busy, tired, take for granted (hmmm sound familiar?) and I see red flags. Probably because when I have "hung in there, tried to stay connected, fought for, didn't walk away, didn't get distracted," although busy and tired, I hope I never have or never will take my friends for granted, I have lost the best friends of my life. People that I have been like family to for many, many years; because I got tired of being the only one that wanted to work for these friendships. I have learned that it is much easier to not get too close to very many people. Even the few close friendships that I have now, I am seriously starting to wonder about. I have zero trust in people. Even in you. And that's okay with me. I will survive.
Well, we made it. That last one was a son-of-a-gun for me. I could go on all day on that subject. But all it does it upset me. But, I am the first to admit that I am not the friend that most think I am. I like to be alone. I like to work alone. I like to talk to myself because nobody disagrees with me. I like to lay on the couch and watch soap operas, the Kardashians, The Walking Dead...and I don't care if nobody ever called me again. Heck, I even text myself sometimes just because I can...and because I am hilarious.
So there's that. If you haven't read Marc & Angel Hack Life's blog yet, you really should. Their blog is probably much more entertaining but they didn't put pictures in like I did! Until next time!!!
