If you forgot how much of a gift it is to be here at all, read this. This is your life, after all. It should be full of wonder because the fact that you're here is THE greatest miracle of all. Less stress, deeper love, a life that feels like your own... you deserve that much.

21 Life Lessons to Live By, Because Your Being Here Is a Wondrous Thing

1. Change and growth happens in small moments.

Nope, you don't need to chase the extraordinary. The ordinary moments are the best for practicing change and growth. One breath at a time... that's how anything happens.

2. There are no small moments.

Don’t discount the ordinary moments, because every moment is actually one moment, in a way (or in every way?). What happens is different, but you’re always in this one, present moment, and this moment most definitely is your life. Don't miss it.

3. Authenticity is more important than originality.

Sure, maybe what you want to do has already been done by someone else, but it hasn’t been done by you. You don't always need to be the first one to think of something. You just need to be yourself. That's how you give something to the world that wasn't there before.

Originality is nice, but authenticity is magnetic.

4. What others think about you has more to do with them than it does you.

What others think about you really is none of your business… unless you make it your business.

5. Comparing your inside to someone’s outside isn't love.

We’re not here to compare and compete, but to promote and create.

It’s hard to promote your desires and build your dreams when you’re busy staring at what other people are doing. It’s helpful to take note of others’ accomplishments and methods, but not at the expense of your own self-worth. Try not to do that.

6. Vulnerability is the birthplace of connection, sometimes joy.

Letting yourself be vulnerable is scary. It also seems to be the birthplace of joy, creativity, abiding peace, and deep love. Honoring and sharing your story might be terrifying, but it’ll set you free to live this lifetime fully.

Vulnerability is scary but sacred. It's the surest path to your connection with everything.

7. You attract what you think and feel about most.

I used to focus on what’s missing, why tragedy had to happen to me, the time I didn’t have, the talents I hadn’t mastered… and I still do sometimes. I now consciously focus on what lifts me up, what I enjoy and want more of. It's a more effective approach to making my life full of what I DO want.

8. Life wants you to experience everything you experience.

It’s simple, but profound, to recognize that you ARE life. You’re an expression of all that is, has been, and ever will be. You’re unique, but deeply connected to everyone and everything else. Life wants to see itself through your eyes, hear itself with your ears, taste its own sweetness and feel the wind through you.

Enjoy yourself, because you ARE life. You're the whole universe, in this space, here to be in awe of itself.

9. Everything can be a lesson and a message.

Look at life like it’s an adventure to be lived instead of a problem to be solved. There might be a (sometimes hidden) message and lesson here. But you don't need to understand it all, at least not right now. Just approach life with gratitude for the experience. It's enough.

10. You can’t “fix” someone else.

You can give someone all of your resources, but what they do with what they have and believe is ultimately up to them. Do your best to be of service, do it with love, and then practice accepting and forgiving everything else.

When you can't change someone, your only task is to love them.

11. You don’t need to control everything.

Making the world a brighter place doesn’t mean you have to carry the world on your shoulders. The universe can handle itself. What you CAN do is be present in our your own life and on purpose. Respect what is, love the people around you, and leave this place better than you found it.

12. Allowing yourself time to grow is revolutionary.

Patience is indeed a blessing. Give yourself time to evolve into your best, highest, truest self. Honor yourself and the time it takes to grow, and life becomes so much easier. And you'll feel like your whole life is on time, because you're living and healing your own way.

One of time's biggest lessons is to honor the season we're standing in.

13. Peace is better than being right.

No matter how much you want to be right about something, it still feels better at the end of the day to be at peace inside yourself. This is your life, after all, and nobody else is living in your skin. The choice to be at peace instead of being right is the choice to live your life how YOU want to live it.

14. Your happiness is a gift to all.

When you’re empowered, you empower others. Your mental and emotional energy is contagious. The quality of the space you occupy links up with others who want to occupy that space. Your happiness affects everyone you come into contact with, and the beauty that flows through you can’t help but spread.

15. One bad moment doesn’t ruin everything.

It might feel like it does, but one moment of frustration or failure doesn’t depict the rest of your life. Try to honor that experience and sit with it, and tell yourself that you can make a comeback. You can.

16. Connecting with people is what life is all about.

We all want to belong, to love and be loved. Connection is our lifeline to the divine, to deep love, to true happiness, and to a meaningful human experience. Period. There is no way around this.

When we realize that we're more alike than what meets the eye, we can meet each other's hearts.

17. Nobody knows it all, and you're not meant to.

You can't name, label, and package the mystery of life. The universe doesn’t have to answer every plea for clarity. It’s good to know things, but it’s helpful to leave space for what you don’t know.

18. An ending is also a beginning.

Life is funny, in that sometimes it makes you laugh and sometimes it makes you cry. The losses are carried over into new beginnings. New things are made from old things. Maybe, there are no real endings, only continuations.

We won't suffer so much when we remember that every death is also a birth, and both are Life.

19. Forgiveness is for yourself.

Forgiving someone else happens when you prefer peace over being right, and peace over pain. It’s the decision to focus on how you’re living *your* life instead of rummaging through the mess someone else left behind.

You'll know when you've forgiven; you'll feel light, like you're free to live your own life now.

20. It’s good to be a beginner.

Starting something new can be scary and exhausting. It’s still worth it. There’s a certain element of trust and hope that grows when you decide to begin again. Let yourself be a student. Your whole life will be an adventure.

21. Taking time to live is necessary for creativity.

Taking time to live — to go outside, do something fun, have a conversation, take a break — is a must, even when it feels counterproductive. Inspiration is available. It lives in the trees, in the clouds, on the side of the road. Stay open to it everywhere you go.

. . .

Tell me:

What’s one lesson that you live by?

Tell me in the comments. I read every single one, and I’d love to know!

May you live all the days of your life.

With love,

Jen

P.S. Never forget how valuable you are, how far you’ve come, how much potential you have. Go visit my shop to find the perfect poetry print that celebrates you in your fullness, in your mess and magic and everything in between.