IMPORTANT LIFE LESSONS

Last week, 29th of August precisely, was my birthday and I woke up that morning to read a couple of short messages on my phone, and I received phone calls too. The weather that morning was cool and the breeze suits the skin like an air conditioner. It was a great day.
 
I took some time out to reflect on the kind of life I had lived, and the kind of life I want to live in the future. I thought about my past, my present, and my future. Some of the lessons that life has thought me are the things I want to share with you in this article.
 
Show appreciation. There is an axiom that says "You don't know what you've got till it's gone." The way I see it is that there is a tendency that you undervalue some of the things you have now. The key to happiness in life is appreciating the things you have now, because some people do not have it.
 
Appreciate and celebrate yourself. A blind person knows the importance of sight. A barren woman knows the importance of having children, and an orphan knows the importance of having parents. You don't have to wait to loose the things you have now, before you begin to value them. Value the gift of life.
 
Appreciate the people in your life. A simple text message can work the magic. I saw a headline in one newspaper recently that reads "Girl, 9, masters 600 sign language gestures so she can tell deaf mother I LOVE YOU." 
 
Don't be sorrowful over the things you don't have. It is your focus that will determine your feelings. You can decide to focus on the things you lack, and be sad, or focus on the things you have, and be happy. It all depends on you. Don't give yourself headache over what you don't have. What you don't have, you don't have.
 
No one has all the solutions. It is true that you can't have it all in life. Some people have billions of naira in their account, but they are not famous. Some have all the fame, but have little cash in their accounts. In fact, the people you envy, that have the things you crave for, may lack some of the things you have.
 
Trade what you have for what you lack. One of the things I discovered is that you can't play with the cards you don't have in the game of success. But you can play with the cards you have in your hand, and win. Zig Ziglar, America's top motivational speaker counseled "You can have everything you want in life, if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
 
Nothing may be 100 percent guaranteed. There are times that unexpected events will crop up. For this reason, you need an emergency fund. Your emergency fund should be approximately equal to your income for six months, or more. If for instance, you loose your job today, you can bank on your emergency fund. 
 
Enjoy your life the way it is now. Enjoy your life the way it is now, positively, and envision a brighter future for yourself. You can pack all the lessons you've learnt from your past, invest it in your present, and bounce back into the future."
 
Wait for your time. Don't determine your own speed by another person's clock. Focus on your own journey, and gain speed without being in a hurry. I like the way the musician Ill bliss put it when he said 'Aiye po gon' meaning there is enough space.
 
Don't regret your past. We all probably wish we did some things right in the past, but the past is now past, and cannot be changed, but you can learn from it. Instead of regretting some of the things you didn't do in the past, maximize the moment. 
 
In conclusion, maximize every moment of your life by making impact.
 
Agbolade OmowoleAgbolade Omowole runs Interpersonal Skills Trainings for corporate organizations. He trains for Terry E. Gillen, Institute of Personnel and Development UK. He is also a financial adviser at Aims Asset Management Limited.

Contact:
E-mail: nigeriaslifecoach@gmail.com
Mobile phone: 08020777803 (+248020777803)
Blog: http://www.101youngentrepreneurs.blogspot.com/

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