23 Life Lessons, 23 Years in the Making

It's probably presumptuous of me to assert that I've acquired any real wisdom by 23. But since it's by birthday, I thought I'd share with you 23 Life Lessons, 23 Years in the Making...

1. "Trust in the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths." Proverbs 3 :5-6. Learned this lesson the hard way. Life just works better when you put your faith in the Lord and not in yourself.

2. A day that begins with coffee is usually better than a day that does not.

3. You should try to do at least one thing everyday that scares you. How else are you going to come up with the chapter titles for your autobiography?

4. "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art..it has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that gives value to survival" (C.S. Lewis)

5. If your bookshelf is taller than you, you'll never grow up.

6. A cluttered desk indicates an organized mind.

7. Pray often. In fact, pray as though your life depends on it. Because it does.

8. Men are different than women. For men this is self-evident. Most women do not discover this until they start working with them.

9. Sometime's it's smart to due dumb things. Like volunteering to serve as a missionary the year after you graduate from college. Smartest life decision yet.

10. There are few problems in life that a good run won't solve.

11. Being single is a gift. Embrace it. Treasure it. Delight in it.

12. Take the time to figure out what you want to do with your life. Why? Because "freedom son's a dirty shirt/The sun on my face and my shovel in the dirt/My shovel in the dirt keeps the devil gone/I woke up this morning shackled and drawn." (Bruce Springsteen "Shackled and Drawn")

13. Take the time to learn how to cook. Not all of us were created to be great chefs, but none of us were created to live on microwaved dinners and frozen pizza.

14. "If you can't dazzle them with your brilliance, baffle them with your bullshit." (Dad)

15. If a book isn't holding your attention by the third hour into it, put it down. Life's too short.

16. "For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jeremiah 29:11)

17. "Tis better to sit back and have others think that you're dumb, then to stand up and prove it." Spoken by Mr. Shaner, my seventh grade language arts teacher.

18. A best friend is someone who's got your back, and will kick your butt.

19. Do not post anything on Facebook you wouldn't want your grandmother to see. Or your high school English teacher, or your ex-boyfriend's mother, or your cousin that you only see at family reunions. Because they ALL will.

20. If you forgive those who've hurt you, you'll stop hurting yourself.

21. Your early twenties are the perfect time to develop an eccentric hobby. When your eighty, you want to be able to tell your great grand kids about the time you thought it was a good idea to take a yoga class in a 90 degree studio in the middle of July.

22. "All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost; the old that is strong does not wither, deep roots are not reached by the frost. From the ashes a fire shall be woken, a light from the shadows shall spring; renewed shall be blade that was broken, the crownless again shall be king"( J.R.R Tolkien.)

23. The only constant in life is change.