How to live by life’s little ditties

Here are a few ditties I live my life by. They are in no particular order, except number one.

#1. Life is too short, so live it!

See how simple that is? Let me put it another way. If you’re worrying about “what-ifs” then you’re not living, you’re worrying.

#2. Anything worth doing is worth doing well.

See if this explains it better. If you’re going to have sex, ladies, don’t you want hot, sweaty, heart-pounding, orgasmic sex? You know, the kind when you finish you can’t breathe, but are so exhilarated you rollover on top of the guy so you can begin again. Or would you rather have the kind where you don’t reach that ultimate high, but when the other person gets theirs you say “Gee, that was nice.” Nice is not done well. Nice is nice. Hey, if he isn’t getting it right, show him. If you want to write a book, don’t just write a book, write the best dang book you can! Live the best life you can!

#3. Life should be an adventure.

This one seems to trip up a great many people. This means go outside your comfort zone. Think outside the box. Push the envelope. Whatever you do, try something. Do something! Experience something new. I live by this creedo! Once a year I come up with something new to try and do it. It could be taking singing lessons, scuba diving, running a marathon, or as simple as trying a new type of food. This year I will experience a 50-mile trail race!

#4. Bucket lists belong in a pail.

Bucket lists are just that, lists on a piece of paper. You don’t need a list to know what you want. Just wake up one day and say, “Today I’m going to bungee jump.” Then go do it. You have to make it happen and writing it down on a little piece of paper and squirreling it away is not going to make it happen. You have to take the bull by the horns or in this case the bungee by the cord and go for it! So if running a marathon is on this proverbial bucket list…take it off and just do it. Who cares if you walk the entire race. You can say you did it as opposed to, “It’s on my bucket list.” Basically, if you take it off the bucket list then you are adhering to Life ditty #3.

#5. Body and mind need restoration.

I never used to believe in this, but have learned the hard way. You see, it used to be that every time my husband and I took a vacation one or both of us would come back to not having a job. So we stopped taking vacations. We thought we were jinxed. However, without following this motto you never give yourself the time to recuperate from the forty-hour work week or if you are a homemaker, even longer hours. You need the time to get away to relax and rejuvenate. Now, it does not mean you need to fly off to Never Never Land or my favorite place (Ireland), but you have to do something so you are not amidst your everyday as this will only suck you back in. A couple of suggestions: Go camping with no cell phone and oh, yeah, no laundry or bills to pay. I once spent a week in the middle of nowhere, Georgia with no phone, no TV, and it was snowing. Best time of my life! Spend a day and go to every movie in the movie theatre. What a great escape! For a short, daily escape, take up running, walking, knitting, and oh, yes...reading. Give yourself time away from the daily grind.

#6. Life does not revolve around work.

This is probably one of the hardest ones for all of us to get past. We, as a society, work too many hours and in my opinion for too little. Yes, it pays the bills (sometimes). But honestly, is that what you were put on this earth for, to pay bills and make money for someone else? That is a resounding NO! Most, if not all of us, at one time or another, have been workaholics. To my great chagrin, I will admit to being one of them. I was actually one in my early twenties. Which, is perhaps, why I learned at a very young age that life was too precious and oh, yeah, meant to be lived (see Life ditty #1) so early on. Life should revolve around family and friends. They are your backbone, your source of inspiration, your rocks. Life is too precious to put a job above all else. And should you be so short-sighted to do so you will miss so much. Do you want to miss celebrating your tenth anniversary because of a board meeting? Or miss your daughter’s soccer playoff because you had to fix a bug or a delivery problem that could have waited another twelve hours? Of course you don’t. And neither does that family member or friend. Don’t let work get in the way of life passing you by. And if you have children, don’t show them the path of least resistance and that an unhappy life is normal. Show them that what life has to offer is what surrounds them, not the paycheck that pays the bills (sometimes). Play hookie!

#7. Live YOUR life and not someone else’s.

Every day, in every walk of life, you will see something or someone you admire and think, “I want what he or she has.” Really? How do you know they are happy? How do you know that they don’t go home alone or depressed or dread the next day? Life isn’t always greener on the other side. At least that’s what my mama always said. You don’t want someone else’s life you want yours. But to do that, you have to know what you want and go after it. Take it! Sitting on the sidelines and wishing you were someone else, had what someone else has, is not living your life. It’s not, in my opinion, even living. It’s wishing. And while I love wishing on a star, I also chase that star to the ends of the earth.

#8. Never regret ANYTHING.

Some people, maybe a great many will be shocked and horrified by this ditty. People believe mistakes are a sin or should be prevented in any way. Me, I have a different belief. Rather than regret any action, learn from it. Seriously! Once, my ex-husband and I moved to New Jersey. It didn’t last long. It was not a great experience. Thom’s mother said something about regretting it, and I said, “Why should I regret it? I learned I don’t like to live in New Jersey, and I learned what I do like.” See, silver lining. If you live your life by learning and not regretting, you grow and experience more. Regret is like a ball and chain. The more you regret, the more regret weighs you down in fear. You begin fearing making mistakes. Fear of mistakes will prevent you from living life. (see ditty #1) Do not fear mistakes. Embrace them! Grow! Live!

What little ditties, mottos, or creedos do you live by?