Girl running through sprinkler

Summer is here.  School is out.  Relationships fill my heart and time.  I can’t promise new and densely enriching posts every week.  I’ll be busy chasing kids and frogs and sprinkler haze. Living wide-eyed and spontaneously.  I doubt I’ll be able to stay away from writing entirely but if the week slips away from me in a summery slip and slide way, there may be some evergreening of old posts to fill your inboxes and dreamy minds.

For this week a list.  Simple but meaningful.

18 Things I Want My Kids to Know

1. It’s OK to spend time alone. You may need it to recharge. Anyone who tells you differently is jealous, afraid of being alone or  simply doesn’t understand. No matter what, it’s OK.

2. Alone does not mean lonely. Solitude may be the place where you are most alive.

3. You have to be a good friend to have good friends.  Make friendship meaningful. It’s not about collecting 1000s of followers on Twitter. It’s about being genuine, vulnerable and committed. Small groups are just as, if not more, satisfying than masses of quasi-friends.

4. Don’t work solely for results.  Enjoy the process.  Notice beauty along the way.

5. Spare yourself from rushing.  Rushing allows life to pass unnoticed and promotes dissatisfaction. Savor life.  Live slowly and mindfully. You will expand.

6. Creativity is just as important as intelligence. It’s a different form of intelligence and it enriches lives. Creativity comes from within. Facts come from outside.  Intelligence can be found in a Google search.  Creativity creates awe.

7. You are loved whether you have a herd of friends or a heap of books to keep you company.

8. Fall in love with someone for how they look AT the world as opposed to how they look TO the world.

9. Fall in love because you are ready not because you think you should.

10. The world needs you to do what you love. Happy people spread light.

11. True love does exist but you have to know and love yourself first.

12. The world needs advisors AND warriors. Respect both.

13. People are not disposable and neither is our planet.  Treat them with care and you’ll benefit.

14. Kindness helps people grow.  Judgment stunts them. Nurturing others helps you blossom.

15. Listening is love and enhances lives.

16. Just because someone talks fast, loudly and with conviction does not mean they are smarter, better or right.

17. Action dissolves fear.  Don’t sit in analysis paralysis.

18. You are here for two reasons: 1. To figure out what your gifts are. 2. To use your gifts to help others.

What did I miss? Any other words of wisdom?

Similar posts from space2live:

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In Defense of Introverted Parents

Let’s Not Reduce Everything to Numbers:An Antidote to the Unsatisfying Way We Account for Our Existence

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