An evolving list of 32 things I’ve learned in 32 years

When we commence a new year in our lives, on the one hand we can view it as meaningless – age is just a number, after all.

On the other, we can view a this number as a marker. Uncertainty means that there is always a blank canvas in front of us, but each new year create a frame.

I remember speaking with a 90-year-old woman named Margaret, after recounting extraordinary parts of her life story, she was quick to assure me, “You can’t arrange life, it happens around you.”

As much as we want to arrange or plan our life year by year, decade by decade, we are shaped by what happens around us – the opportunities we seize, the people we encounter, the places we stay or leave.

I first formed this list on the eve of my thirtieth birthday. Viewing this new decade as a chance to start anew, change or improve, I want to see it as a chance to truly take notice of what’s happened around me.

We might not be able to control events or the outcome of our efforts, but we can put ourselves in the world and take note of what we learn along the way.

Reflecting on the articles, interviews and experiments I’ve conducted in the last decade, here’s what I’ve understood so far, perhaps only partially. Year by year, my hope is to add to this list evolving list, every lesson is one I often have to remember to learn, to keep noticing.

 Συνέχεια εδώ

Πηγή: extraordinaryroutines.com