Word to the Wise

Here's some good advice I've received over the past couple of years, words of wisdom:

"Don't beat yourself up and don't let anyone else beat you up either."

We all make mistakes.  Learn from them and move forward with your head held high.  It's no use to be down about something that you can't change. 

"Never use the words 'I don't know.'"

If you don't know how to answer a certain question, be silent and find your peace and the words you need will come. Obviously this doesn't really apply to math questions. It's more of a conversational technique, whether inward or outward.

"Once certain things are revealed, you won't forget them or un-know them."

Ever feel like you've had a life-changing epiphany? Have you discovered something about the world or yourself and it was so great that you feared you'd forget it all and wake up as if from a dream? I have.  I've gone to sleep for over a year with new self knowledge and even after all the suffering I've done, the magical feeling has faded a bit but the knowledge is still there that I am a part of the whole and here for good reason.

"Whatever you do, don't stop writing."

My Philosophy professor told me that in the parking garage one day when I confessed that I wasn't sure if I would finish college. He said he'd heard I was the best poet in the county. It made me  feel good, like I had a purpose, even though I only wrote that one winning poem. When you're blessed with a gift, you have to nurture it. I hate feeling forced when I write, so sometimes I write things like this to inspire confidence for future creative endeavors.

"Not my circus, not my monkeys"

This applies when someone tries to drag you into a situation out of your depth or interest. A psychologist let me in on this one. It's a simple phrase that may help to eliminate guilt about problems you can't fix for others (though they may ask you to). Sometimes we just can't.

I hope this helps someone.