Life Lessons

On Thursday night, I had the opportunity to have dinner with a couple of good friends, one of whom was visiting from out of town. Jenn had recently completed a 10 day Darden business program with 50 other executives and was filling us in on some of the exercises she was asked to complete. One of these exercises was to write down 5 life lessons you learned growing up.

What a neat thing to contemplate. If you think about it, the lessons you learn from your parents (most likely who we use as models to learn the most from during our formative years) really shapes who you are today. I instantly started thinking about what I learned growing up and wanted to share these with you.

1. Where there is a will, there is a way.

2. Think outside the box.

3. It's okay to break the rules (within reason!).

4. Don't sweat the small stuff.

5. A sense of humor goes a long way.

I can think of thousands of examples that perfectly demonstrate each of the above items I saw firsthand growing up. I am pretty sure this is exactly how I live my life now and have my own set of examples that demonstrate these lessons.

It gets you thinking, doesn't it? What shapes who you are. Why some people approach a challenge as an obstacle and others see it as an opportunity. Why one person can decide to be positive and another will be negative during the same situation. And, why a person may put more value in reading a textbook than going out and experiencing real life.

I would be proud if my kids were able to absorb the same life lessons as I had growing up. However, Ian and Samantha's experiences will also be sprinkled in with "Save for a rainy day" and "Slow and steady wins the race." I'll be interested to ask them in 25 or so years what lessons they learned from their childhood.