21 Life Lessons at Fifty

So hello world - and thank you for welcoming me at 50!. Arriving at such a milestone is sobering on the one hand and empowering on the other. Those who know me well would expect me to have something to say having arrived at my half century - so here they are - 21 life lessons from a 50 year old...

1. Do life well with those you love most - this is not a dress rehearsal. Work hard to put your family first - for they know you best and love you the most.
2. Be true to yourself for in this way you will learn to be comfortable in your own skin.
3. Don't entrust your emotional, physical or spiritual well-being to anyone else - these are principally your responsibility.
4. Same goes for your pension pot - start saving young, it's coming sooner than you think.
5. Exercise - this matters.
6. Find a job you enjoy - why wouldn't you do that?
7. Endure hardship, otherwise it's game over.
8. Don't take advice from people who don't take their own advice.
9. Live in a way that matters and take risks.
10. Learn to play an instrument well and if you can't - paint.
11. Christian? Then live a Christ centric life.
12. Not? Then take time to satisfy yourself intellectually and philosophically that you shouldn't treat seriously the person and claims of Christ. You owe this to yourself.
13. Live life forwards - your past does not have to define you.
14. Wear your scars well - they are a sign that your words can be trusted.
15. Show courage in the face of fear - otherwise you will be robbed of your identity.
16. Read well.
17. Always listen to the other point of view - you learn most this way. 
18. Procrastination is the thief of time - show it no mercy.
19. Forgiveness is the axis upon which the world turns.
20. You can't out run grace.
21. And remember: Love wins.

---