I am sitting on the cusp of another anniversary of a trip around the sun. Translation: I have birthday in a couple of days. One of these days I will be strong enough to tell you how I really feel about my birthday but that day is not today. Today is the day that I sit back and reflect on what I should have learned a long time ago.

I recently came across a very nice piece written by Shaun Boydon the website LifeReboot.com. This piece was blogged by Shaun back in 2010 but the words still ring very true. In Shaun's piece he writes of 10 things he wished someone had told him earlier. I can really identify with four of them and strangely the one he has listed as number one, I actually got right.

Here are my thoughts and because this is the Internet only a select few will take a moment to actually engage their minds into this piece. For those of you that do I thank you for reading and I hope you will send your thoughts back to me in the form of a comment.

 

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    Explore New Hobbies and Opportunities Often

    I think a lot of us are better at making excuses than making an effort to step out into our wildest dreams. If I were to list for you the chances I didn't take we could fill an ocean with the opportunities that I missed. Most of those chances weren't taken because of some very lame excuse like "I'm tired", "I have to work tomorrow" or "I don't look that good in a dress". Maybe together you and I can accept some of the challenges and opportunities that are thrown our direction instead of dismissing them. Time is ticking. This is the only life we have. Why not reach for the brass ring.

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    You Can't Change Anything By Just Looking At It

    "Why don't you people do something!" You've said that, I have said that and in the course of saying it we forgot that we are the people that have the power to change things. Change is a very difficult concept for the human animal to grasp. We seek it, we crave it, we want it, we just don't want it to happen to us. It has to happen. We have to make it happen or the change that is thrust upon us is the decision of someone with far less knowledge than ourselves. We need to stop thinking and start doing. We need to learn to make our mistakes and learn from them instead of waiting for someone else to make them on our behalf.

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    Nobody Knows What You're Thinking Unless You Tell Them

    How many times have I wanted a boss to tell me "good job." How many times have I wanted a lover to tell me how they feel. How many times have I wished the waiter knew I wanted a baked potato instead of fries. Silence may be golden but it is a killer when it comes to relationships. Far too often I've held inside what I have needed to say out loud and allowed a small misunderstanding to grow into a full fledged fight. Your thoughts and your feelings deserved to be heard. If only for the sake of your own sanity. Things can get kind of quirky between your ears if you don't let some of that stuff out in the open.

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    For The Most Part, What Others Think Doesn't Matter

    You are responsible for your own happiness and that means marching to the beat of the drum you hear in your heart. If that means you wear shorts to work every day of your life then so be it. The value and credence we give to the thoughts of others makes about as much sense as selling yourself on Ebay. Either way, you are allowing someone who is not familiar with the product to determine its worth. We should all know how much we are worth and if you say you're worth nothing or worthless then you have already quit. Don't quit on yourself. If you never blow your own horn you may never get to hear your song.

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    Do What You Are

    If you were wondering, this was the one I got right. I have never ever wanted to be anything but on the radio. I have become a husband and I have become a father, but I never wanted to be those as much as I wanted to be on the radio. I am grateful I was blessed to get to be them but I don't think I could be a husband or father if I wasn't living my life on the air. I found out recently that the job that embarrassed my kid in high school has made him quite memorable in college. It seems all the other moms and dads are engineers, bankers, scientist and politicians. Jacks' Dad is a disc jockey. A job just respectable enough to be better than panhandler yet cool enough to put me on the same level as the guy who can get you free tacos at Taco Bell. To quote Frankie Ballard, "It's a helluva life."

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