That it is okay to let go of the toxic people in your life. Whether they be relatives or just friends. I have started weeding these people out and surprisingly I don't feel bad about it at all. When I think of the time I have wasted on people who didn't care whether I lived or died I could just scream! At 65 years of age time is a precious commodity that I cannot afford to waste any longer. Lest you think I am an old recluse, I love people and have a whole host of family and friends that are wonderful to share life with.

That there is much tragedy in life and you can survive it. And thrive afterwards. My adult life has been filled with the greatest sorrows (death of my young adult daughter, divorce, and loss of everything due to a natural disaster) but also the greatest joys (my son and granddaughter and a deep appreciation for living a healthy simple life).

Be All You Are, Be Yourself,
Everyone Else Is Taken.

Do All You Enjoy, Enjoy All You Do.

Reality Is A Figment Of Your
Imagination.

"80% of life is just showing up." -- Woody Allen

Myself and the moment are all that I have
They're all I will ever possess
The richest of men will never have more
The poorest will never have less.

That being present and in the moment with your children is more important than having a big fancy job and a day book full of meetings.

The old woulda, coulda, shoulda I love it:) Revel in your own time. The only thing I accomplished is that I used my personal days every year. That way I won't lay in my death bed and wish I had used my personal days:) John: you sound like a man of reason in giving luck credit. I do too or the grace of God. Which bewilders me at times cause I've reveled in my own time:)

That my mother had her own issues and my father had his, but they each did the best they could in raising my brother and me.

That humor eases all sorts of difficult situations--on the job, in relationships, and in dealing with teenagers.

That I could just politely decline to do something--such as typing a paper for a boy friend before word processors came along--rather than refusing to become a competent typist.

Brings to mind one of my favorite Pennsylvania Dutch sayings: "Too soon we get old; too late, smart!"

That just because I'm related to someone does not mean I have to love them, or even like them, for that matter.

Live your own life, not someone else’s.

The more you learn, the less you fear, the more things you try, the greater the opportunities and choices present themselves.

It’s critical to live life forward, to learn from the past but focus on the future.

Hope is not a plan.

Don’t mistake wants for needs.

No one will ever know how I wish I was born 40 years later and could have remained single through all of those four marriages/divorces. I could still have had my three delightful children and we would have thrived just as well as we did since I was single for most of the time it took to raise them anyway.

And I know it was all my fault ... bad taste in men for the most part, and the fact that I had been an only child who discovered in her earliest years how much she loved her aloneness!

One day I will write a book titled "Never Marry an Only Child: We Never Really Learned How to Share!"

I wish I had sat with the old people in my family (when I was young) and asked them questions about their lives.

I wish I had known a career path. I wish I had known someone who would have advised me to stay in mathematics rather than pursue the liberal arts. I wish I had known a little bit more direction. And I believe that all of what I just said comes under the umbrella of I wish I had listened to what older people were saying.

Sharing what I've learned in life with young people has brought me enormous happiness. Sharing with your own children if they are open to it, or connecting with another young person is all you need. We get a chance to open a door and perhaps help them focus on positive goals. Sharing life's lessons with a child gives me a joy that money cannot buy.

As someone said upthread, I wish I had been born 40 years later. I did not fit in, in the 50's and 60's, but would be just fine today, being who I am.
I am happy that my children and grandchildren have things better.

I've worked most of my life until the downturn in 2008. I regret not returning to college to get a B.A. degree. Having a degree may have helped my career during the 2008 downturn.