I am a consultant, an advisor. And yet I always tell people, I am no expert. All I know is what I have experienced myself along the way.

So here are 10 things I have learned, that I believe, about Life:
1) Life gives us the lessons we need, not the lessons we want at the time or in the way we want to learn them.
2) Our view of our problems, desired solutions and path to achieve those solutions is impacted heavily by our emotions, particularly fear.
3) Therefore, if we do what our rational mind tells us to do, we are likely to “get in our own way”. Our attempts to control, manipulate, persuade will only make the path longer and harder.
4) When we say “I can’t bear to do that, or feel that, or have that happen”…we may be identifying exactly what we need to do or feel or experience.
5) Our success depends on our curiosity, acceptance and willingness to engage. Along with our compassion and sense of humor
6) Along the way we may have to sacrifice the image we thought we had to maintain to be successful, to be loved, and embrace the person we really are. And that may feel very scary.
7) We need to accept there is no “right” path..only a “right for us” path. No one can tell us what that path is — we discover it by honestly looking at our feelings. And it will not be comfortable.
8) We don’t get any points for being right or good or behaving well or doing what we are asked to do. We learn that other people’s approval is based more on us doing “what makes them feel comfortable” than what is really “right”. And, in the long run, being comfortable is not the best thing for any of us.
9) Life wants us to be fully who we are. It will settle for nothing less.
10) Peace comes from accepting that there is a place for us all, a place where we will be able to use all our most precious gifts…but it may not be the place we thought we wanted.