What Did I Learn While Leaving My 27 Years Behind?
I don’t know if time passes quickly or if we are growing fast, but now I am sure that everything is progressing in an accelerated way :) When I think of the long years ahead of me when I go to school for the first time at the age of 6, I lamented what this life would be like. There were huge steps that I wanted to do, that I wanted to take, but they were not things I could fit into that body yet.
In the past, everything seemed to pass more slowly and more fully. While I have so many things to tell about my childhood, if I wanted to tell about the last 2–3 years, it is most likely that not that much would come up. Because while we are enjoying the moment as a child, we are now sacrificing our today for “yesterday” or “tomorrow” without realizing it. As such, we feel a longing for the past.
It is not enough to miss the past, it is necessary to learn something from the past. Luckily, as someone born on January 2, I start the new year with a new age and a brand new page every year.
As I filled the last page of my past and took the first page of my new age in my hand, I wanted to remind myself of what was piled up in the saddlebag.
Now is the time to hand over the flag of life’s journey to my new age.
1. Listen to life
Every moment you live has value and meaning. Instead of complaining why something like this happened to me, listen to the teacher named life and try to learn the lesson in class. Remember that nothing is in vain, whatever happens, you have your share of experience. Keep asking yourself what I should learn from this situation.
2. Earn by working, not shortcuts
Not everyone is born with superior abilities, sometimes you can start behind in the race, but your difference should be hard work, not starting behind. Never miss work, a simple but effective formula, from your life. If you want to make a difference, keep working hard. I’m sure that no effort is wasted, I’m sure you’ve experienced a lot by now.
3. Do your best, not perfect
An effort to reach perfection will only tire you, and the point you have reached will never make you happy. Your responsibility is not to be the best in this 8 billion world, your responsibility is to be better than you were yesterday. Give everything you have entrusted to you, and continue on your way knowing that you are doing your best.
4. Plan and act
There is so much to do, but it will always be uncertain when the time will end. To appreciate the time you have, plan well, but never overdo it. Instead of drowning in details, take action and try to learn on the way. Whenever you are going to postpone something, try to take only 1 minute for it, make it a habit to just start rather than not do it at all. If you start, the road will welcome you anyway.
5. Need less, not more
Do not forget that everything you own has a story and there are different stories behind it. For example, when you are going to buy something new, focus on the story of what you have, think about the conditions under which you bought it and the difficult journey you went through until it came to you. If you want to enjoy your freedom, always have a few things to cling to.
6. Make it your priority, not your priorities
When you’re young, when you’re energized, you can always be willing to do more. There may be too many things to occupy your agenda. But do not forget that to reach the goal you set for yourself, you must have priority, not priorities. That priority will always be your compass and will show you the right path.
7. Lower your expectations
Remember that the formula for happiness is in managing your expectations. The less you expect, the more freely and lightly you will live your life. Try to reduce what you expect from others, seek the meaning of life and happiness within yourself, not in others. And yet, don’t expect too much of yourself. Just because everyone else is doing it, you don’t have to do it either, just unravel the secret of being yourself.
8. Look Positive, Live Positive
There will always be more sadness and troubles in life than happiness. Accept this first. However, if you want to see it, you can discover the countless beauties that life has to offer, and you don’t have to search far. Sprinkle positive rhetoric into your life instead of using negative patterns. Do not forget that the beauty should be remembered with the beautiful. Do not place anything you do not want on your tongue or in your heart.
9. Grow by sharing, share by growing
Whatever you have achieved so far, do not forget that you did not create it from scratch and that you have come to these days with the efforts of someone. Always keep in mind that most people are just custodians of their possessions for the sake of saving and pass away from this world without sharing or contributing anything. You will grow and multiply as you share what you have.
10. Don’t say you learned, keep learning
How well Avicenna said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know”. Never miss learning from your life, continue to explore, learn and research within the possibilities that life offers you. Your body may age, but as you continue to learn, your soul will always renew itself and remain young.
11. Let your books be your greatest treasure
If you have one thing to leave behind, it’s your underlined books. Leave your knowledge and experience behind. Read every day, set sail for new lives every day, discover your new friends among the leaves of the books every day. One day, everyone can leave your life, but the books will always be there to embrace you with all their crowded characters.
12. Glorify the good, forget the bad
When someone does you a favor, don’t let it go unrequited, take action and be instrumental in spreading the goodness. When you see evil, use your patience and stay away from that evil. Don’t humble yourself enough to respond to evil. Bad words and bad attitudes will also pollute your soul.
13. Don’t change anyone, just accept
Your expectations from life and those around you may be different, but don’t set yourself a role like changing anyone. God created everyone in their own beauty and in their own uniqueness. Not accepting the other is not accepting God. Instead of changing the people in your life, just create an environment for those who are willing to flourish, don’t get involved. Be busy discovering the beauties and teachings that every person you meet will add to your life.
14. Choose your problem
The human brain is bound to be obsessed with something. At this point, step in and choose the thing to worry about. Choose something so that the end of the struggle is meaningful and beneficial. Remember, you become what you put your mind to.
15. Do it for yourself, not for anyone else
Never step up to be liked, praised or appreciated. Whatever you’re doing, start modestly and work your way up quietly. Appreciation and praise poison your soul over time and lead you astray. Don’t say something before you do it and satisfy your soul with emptiness. Only own the achievements you have worked for.
16. You become valuable if you make them feel valuable
You don’t have to make room for everyone in your life, but always try to make the people you make room feel valuable. Don’t expect anything in return, otherwise what’s the point of being magnanimous? If you have the right people in your life, of course, they will make you feel valuable.
17. And get up early and leave early
Try to greet the sunrise every morning, prefer the freshness of the morning to the sweetness of sleep. You can never control the life offered to you from the bed, the traveler always needs on your way.
Today, 365 new pages have been added to my life, I don’t know where this year’s journey will take me, what it will show, but I am sure that at least the light that the past showed me will illuminate my path.
I would like to thank you, my dear readers, who have been actively meeting me in the lines for 1 year and have helped me learn a lot. We wish to embark on a beautiful and meaningful journey together again…
Best regards, Fatih
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