The end of a decade,  you have done some amazing things, you have done some stupid things and you have done a lot of basic, ordinary things. What would you like to have said to your younger self if you could travel back in time to give yourself some advice about life?

Here is a list by my friend Marc Chernoff called Lessons Life Taught Us that will make you think:

1. Spend more time with those who make you smile and less time with those who make you feel pressured to impress.
2. Laugh at stupid jokes. Apologise. Tell someone how much they mean to you. It’s the small moments that make life grand.
3. Life is way more enjoyable when you stop being trying to be cool and simply focus on being yourself.
4. Complaining is like slapping yourself for slapping yourself. It doesn’t solve the problem, It just hurts you more.
5. Learn to adjust the sails of your life to unpredictable winds, while keeping your focus clear on your destination and keep sailing until you get there.
6. Freedom is the greatest gift. Self-sufficiency is the greatest freedom.
7. If you want something in your life you’ve never had, You’ll have to do something you’ve never done.
8. Your health is your life,  keep up with it. Get an annual physical check-up.
9. Living a life of honesty creates peace of mind, and peace of mind is priceless. Period. Don’t be dishonest and don’t put with people who are.
10. Forgiving yourself is far more important (and difficult) than getting others to forgive you.
11. There are few joys in life that equal a good conversation, A good read, A good walk, a good hug, a good smile, or a good friend.
12. Laughter is the best medicine for stress. Laugh at yourself often. Find the humour in whatever situation you’re in.
13. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad, It just depends on your perspective.
14. You’re not alone. Everyone has problems. Some people are just better at hiding them than others.

So what does life say about the lessons we learn over our journey, let’s have a look:

1, Don’t waste time on those quick to judge and not take the time needed to find out about the real you.

2. Going out your front door each day is an inherent risk: Mine.

3. I have had periods of both, I am called the beautiful man.

4. Karen Salmansohn came out of advertising to create the popular salmon.com due to the awful ongoing mispronunciation of her name.  People used to joke that she couldn’t drink a glass of water without it spurting out the knife holes in my back – because there were so many jerks and “drama llamas” in the ad business: My Immortal.

5. Better known by his pseudonym “The Colonel”.

6. For each their one: Oh My God.

7. I know which I prefer.

8. From the world’s most popular quote writer, Ms Unknown comes this insightful piece of wisdom.: Walk a Mile.

9. What a great name.

10. They are very special, these people, as it says do not let them go.: Time of My Life.

11. I just love this image, I have used it before.

12. in the early 1960s, Rohn was invited to speak at a meeting of his Rotary Club. He accepted and, soon, others began asking him to speak at various luncheons and other events. In 1963 at the Beverly Hills Hotel, he gave his first public seminar. He then began presenting seminars all over the country, telling his story and teaching his personal development philosophy until the time of his passing in 2009.: Run The World.

13. Life has both Shadow and Light in it.

14. This reminds me of the African philosophy of Ubuntu: ‘A person is a person through other people’ strikes an affirmation of one’s humanity through recognition of an ‘other’ in his or her uniqueness and difference. It is a demand for a creative intersubjective formation in which the ‘other’ becomes a mirror (but only a mirror) for my subjectivity. This idealism suggests to us that humanity is not embedded in my person solely as an individual; my humanity is co-substantively bestowed upon the other and me. Humanity is a quality we owe to each other. We create each other and need to sustain this otherness creation. And if we belong to each other, we participate in our creations: we are because you are, and since you are, definitely I am. The ‘I am’ is not a rigid subject, but a dynamic self-constitution dependent on this otherness creation of relation and distance.: Ubuntu.

15. And for our final lesson………

And to take Self Love into 2020 here are some questions from Marc:

1. If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend?
2. Why are you, you?
3. In one sentence, what do you wish for your future self?
4. What’s something you have that everyone wants?
5. What’s something Nobody can steal from you?
6. What has the little voice in your head been saying lately?
7. What makes you feel incomplete?
8. What’s something new you recently learnt about yourself?
9. What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
10. What promise to yourself do you still need to fulfil?

For the final list of the decade, I have returned to some pop divas and an all-time classic. We begin with Taylor Swift, then rock out to Evanescence. Across to Malta for Ira Losco. Then Joe South followed by Dirty Dancing. Beyonce is the penultimate number and we complete with all things Ubuntu: Sometimes You Have To Fight For The Things!!!

Life teaches us many lessons, one of mine is that Love and Respect For All, Everyone Included answers question two and three above. Until next time we meet in the new decade, dear friends.