I read Room to Write by Bonni Goldberg, last year. This was the exercise on p. 134: make a list of truths, one for every year of your current age. Seems like a useful exercise, but coming up with 50 of them was a bit tough. What would your list look like?
1. Words hurt.
2. I should always trust my gut.
3. Food creates community.
4. If it doesn’t feel right, it likely isn’t. See #2.
5. No one works for free; the cost is either monetary or emotional.
6. I love eating smoked salmon. Smoked anything, really.
7. Growing up on a farm teaches you how to work hard, read the sky, and to respect the elements.
8. Faith is a many-splendored thing.
9. Reputation is hard earned and easily lost.
10. Social media sucks but I can’t quit it.
11. Books are a girl’s best friend.
12. Middle age revisits the hang-ups you had as a teenager.
13. I might feel like the entire world is looking at me, but really, everyone thinks the whole world is looking at them. See #12.
14. Your real friends are the ones who are around when you’re at your lowest point.
15. I am enough.
16. I will be okay.
17. It will be okay.
18. You get what you pay for.
19. My parents were right about recycling, reusing, reducing.
20. Cooking with others widens my world.
21. Potlucks are really the luck of the pot.
22. Showing love takes more than words.
23. Silent farts are the most deadly.
24. Just because someone says something is true, doesn’t mean it is.
25. You can give your kids every opportunity to succeed, but in the end, free will trumps it all.
26. ADHD complicates everything.
27. The right things happen at the right time.
28. The right people are in place when you need them to be.
29. I am God’s child.
30. I need a lot of validation.
31. I need touch to feel loved.
32. I can’t find the right words sometimes.
33. Horses, dogs, elephants and giraffes are the most noble and beautiful animals.
34. I am an outsider in every circle.
35. I am still married.
36. Momentary lapses of judgement get you in deep trouble.
37. Kindred spirits are few and far between.
38. I want to see more of the world.
39. I’m afraid of travelling alone.
40. I’m often held back by fear.
41. The older I get, the less I care about what people think about me, but the more I care about people.
42. I lack self-discipline.
43. I have a lot of great ideas.
44. I am generally an optimistic person.
45. I am a regurgitator/collator of information, not a creator of information.
46. I am a connector.
47. I have started a novel.
48. I love my tattoo.
49. My life, while not extraordinary, has been pretty damn good.
50. Music makes even the hardest task or challenge so much easier to tackle.