My friend Andrew Perri sent me the 45 lessons life taught Regina Brett, the senior metro columnist of The Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. Some of her columns have been nominated for the Pulitzer Price. She has a book based on her 50 life lessons coming out in April of 2010. She is not 90 years old. She is a wise spring chicken.
“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.”–Regina Brett
I picked my 14 favorites but you can see all of them at: http://www.reginabrett.com Enjoy!
1. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
2. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
3. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
4. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
5. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
6. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
7. Forgive everyone everything.
8. What other people think of you is none of your business.
9. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
10. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
11. Your children get only one childhood.
12. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
13. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
14. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
“A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said, ‘ God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.’
God led the holy man to two doors.
He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man’s mouth water.
The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished.
They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.
But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, ‘You have seen Hell.’
They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one.
There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man’s mouth water.
The people were equiped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, ‘I don’t understand..’
It is simple,’ said God . ‘It requires but one skill.
You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.'”
A loving heart is the truest wisdom.–Charles Dickens
Filed under: Books and Movies | Tagged: Andrew Perri, Charles Dickens, Lessons, Regina Brett |
Rio Guzman's Journal 
I stand corrected. Thanks! It seems there is a lot of misleading information out there. Let’s be aware.
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Please know that Regina Brett, author of 50 Life Lessons, is not 90 years old (don’t feel bad – that misinformation is all over the internet), but she is indeed wise. She is actually 53 years old; she is the senior metro columnist at The Plain Dealer in Cleveland (Ohio’s largest weekly newspaper); she was a finalist in both 2008 and 2009 for the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary; and she has a book based on her 50 Life Lessons coming out in April of 2010. You can check out her website by going to http://www.reginabrett.com where you will see that all I’ve written here is true !! Regina also recently wrote a column for The Plain Dealer about “internet aging, which you can read here. And finally, you can also read all of her past columns, including the columns nominated for the Pulitzer Prize, at http://www.cleveland.com/brett
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