16 Harsh Truths that Make Us Stronger (from the blog: Marc and Angel Hack Life)

It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more manhood (or womanhood) to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.
- Alex Karras

1. Life is not easy. – Hard work makes people lucky – it’s the stuff that brings dreams to reality.  So start every morning ready to run farther than you did yesterday and fight harder than you ever have before.  (Read The Road Less Traveled.)
2. You will fail sometimes.  – The faster you accept this, the faster you can get on with being brilliant.  You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work.  So get out there and do something!  Either you succeed or you learn a vital lesson.  Win – Win.
3. Right now, there’s a lot you don’t know. – The day you stop learning is the day you stop living.  Embrace new information, think about it and use it to advance yourself.
4. There may not be a tomorrow. – Not for everyone.  Right now, someone on Earth is planning something for tomorrow without realizing they’re going to die today.  This is sad but true.  So spend your time wisely today and pause long enough to appreciate it.

For the rest of the harsh truths, please go here.

26.How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?

Today, I would still be in my 30s.  Some days, I'm older.  Other days, I feel like a kid; especially when I discover something I've never known or seen.

25.When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards and just do what you know is right?

When the scruple begins to own every waking moment, it's time.  I'm extremely guilty of compunction.  When faced with a decision, my brain kicks in, and the decision-making process becomes a cadence to my daily activities.  Eventually, something will happen to cause me to feel that I have finally reached a point where I've looked at the issue from every view possible.  That's when the decision happens.  Sometimes, I wake up with the decision made...which leads me to believe that sometimes, my sleeping moments are owned as well.

24.When you are 80-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

That I accomplished something, whatever it may be.
That I have no real enemies.
That I have no real hate for anyone else.
That I can remember the important pieces of my 8 decades of existence.

But more important than any of that....

That I loved, and that I was loved.

23.Are you holding onto something that you need to let go of?

I'm sure that I am, though this past year, I have had a moment of realization that all of my memories do not need to be stacked in boxes that are never opened.  Noah and I have slowly been going through everything and deciding what stays in our lives and what needs to just go.  I've done this before.  Once, Noah brought me a shoebox filled with letters and notes from Junior High through my Senior year.  I read each one while sitting on the living room floor.  The memories were renewed, and then I retired them to my pile of old memories.  It's a difficult process, as I hold many things precious to my heart.

I'm really not sure if it's maturity that has made me capable of letting go, or the lack of space.  Maybe it's the oldness of the items, like the essence of the memory has faded to the point that when I hold it again, the intensity is just not there anymore.  There will always be some things that will always remain in my life.  But sometimes, especially with the ones attached with painful memories, you have just got to let go.

22.What would you regret not fully doing, being or having in your life?

If I live my entire life without being a parent, I will regret that.  See yesterday's post.

LIFE'S BREATH: Tears (NIAW Bust an Infertility Myth: TRYING IS FU...

I am posting this because this woman has written in words what I feel in my heart. When people ask me what it's like to not get pregnant, I think I will just simply point them to this blog.

LIFE'S BREATH: Tears (NIAW Bust an Infertility Myth: TRYING IS FU...: "When the alarm sounds, they both jump out of bed, neither able to contain their excitement. They frantically get ready, not really sure wh..."