10 Lessons I Have Learned In 2005

Tomorrow, I am going to leave you with a holiday video and some holiday memories to get the weekend started early. Today I wanted to reflect a bit on 2005 and share with all of you some of the lessons I have learned this past year. I normally don't share too many personal things on here but I hope you can relate to and will appreciate some of them. I also hope some of them will be sound advice for some of you. Enjoy.

1) Never allow yourself to be someone's consolation prize when you can be someone else's grand prize. Don't ever allow anyone to make you feel or allow anyone to treat you second rate no matter what. If they want a consolation prize, get them a case of Turtle Wax.

2) Timing is everything. You can meet the most amazing person, but if the timing is not right, it's not going to work no matter how hard you try. Not only does the person we choose to like or love have to be right, but so does the timing.

3) You are never too old to make a great friend. They say as you get a bit older, it's tough to make a real good friend because people are set in their ways and have their own agendas. I proved that wrong a few times this year. You know who you are.

4) People, for the most part, will not go to bat for you no matter how much they sympathize or agree with your cause if they have nothing to gain. For the most part, people only act when something directly affects them. Most people will stand by and watch you sink or swim...even those people holding a bunch of life preservers that can help you out.

5) You are only as good as your last outing. You can be the nicest, the best, or the most amazing person on the planet, but if you have a bad day or say something out of line, that's what you'll be remembered for. People have a habit of forming an opinion of someone based on one quality, one event, or one "bad outing" rather than the person they are in general.


2005 Taught Many...... 

6) For the most part, work friends are just that, work friends. There are exceptions but usually no matter how close you think you are to people at the office, remember they are work friends. Once you leave, whether it be on your own free will or otherwise, and the gossip and buzz is over, people will forget you fast. Don't flatter yourself by thinking you are really that important in these people's lives. They move on quickly to the next story. You are put on the discount rack pretty quickly.

7) You can get an amazing dog or pet from a shelter. I've heard nothing but negative things over the years about animals adopted from shelters. I learned in 2005 that theory is totally false. Bruce has been such an amazing addition to my home. I grew up with four dogs in my home and have been around dozens of others in my life and he is, by far, the most gentle and loving dog I have ever met.

8) In the long run, it's best to follow logic rather than your heart/feelings. It saves a great deal of sorrow in the end. For years, I followed my heart in making decisions and wound up making the same mistakes over and over. This year, I followed my logic rather than my heart and saved myself a lot more stress and hurt than I would have had otherwise. Sure, following your feelings is more fun, and more "innocent" and all that, but using your head will save you lots of time and trouble.

9) "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck....it's a fuckin' duck!!!!!" Don't try to make excuses for people because you like them. Sure even "bad" people are nice every once in a while, but don't be fooled. I am sure a serial killer is nice every now and again too. If you see a pattern of lies, dishonesty, deceit, or anything else, don't make excuses, just run...and run fast.

10)Unless a traumatic or life altering incident takes place in someone's life, a person really does not change. A cheater will always cheat, a liar will always lie, a thief will always steal, etc., unless something happens in their lives that is so significant or traumatic, that they wake up and change.