Had I Known...

...that everyone has something admirable about them. I would like to think I would be less judgmental of others.
...that everyone has flaws and issues. I would like to think I would be less judgmental of myself.
...that everyone just wants to be heard. I would like to think I would talk less and listen more.
...that everyone just wants to be understood. I would like to think I would perceive and accept more.
...that everyone just wants to be acknowledged. I would like to think I would be less selfish and affirm more.
...that life is neither just or unjust. I would like to think I would understand that life is both and it is what I do with both that matters.
...that the days would go by so fast and that they turn into months which turn into years. I would like to think I would savor the moments more.
...that so quickly I would wake on the brink of 50. I would like to think I would pay better attention to what I was doing the first half of my life.
...that I enjoy so many aspects of being alive. I would like to think I would live more, laugh more and be mopey less.
...that I am smarter than I think I am. I would like to think I would try more things out of my comfort and let my cage be rattled occasionally.
...that feelings are okay and are fleeting when you allow yourself to feel. I would like to think I would repress less and give myself more freedom to acknowledge my feelings.
...that I am a good mom. I would like to think I would be less uptight about the little things.

...that 10 minutes to child is a very long time to wait when they have a nugget to share. I would like to think I would say, wait until I get done, less often.

...that money isn't the end all goal just a means. I would like to think I would value the things money can't buy more.

...that I am beautiful. I am not a one dimensional being and beauty is so much more than what we see. That being beautiful is really about the inside and not the outside. I would like to think I would accept and appreciate the true me, and not harangue myself because I don't always look or act or think the way my preconceived prejudices say I should.

But quite simply, we live life each moment, the way we know at time we are living it. I hope to pass on to those who are in my sphere of influence a whisper of what I have learned. But once again, the truth is, that each person lives their own life the way they know to live it at each moment they are living. And when you think about it, we are living, a new dramatic serial, however it isn't written by a team of Hollywood writers. We can't strike out a scene or a line that doesn't fit in the current plot. Still we can find the preciousness in each scene.